Petals Scatter
by Musing Soul
Summary: They were children playing soldiers, in a world that was spiraling out of control. Caught between forces that none them really understand, Team RWBY finds themselves thrown ever further into conflicts. And, with the woman in red lurking just out of sight, their lives aren't about to get easier. The Darkness gathers, just out of sight. AU
1. Chapter 1: Catalyst

**Chapter 1: Catalyst**

 **Ruby**

"So. You four were the unlucky ones to find that White Fang operation?" The huntsman we had been assigned to shadow for this mission gave us a look that was a combination of amused, and disinterested. His eyes, a sort of dull brown, glittered in the flickering lights; that was a good description of him. Dull and brown. "Gotta say, that was a nice piece of work. Gave the bastards the what for." His lips curled into a smile. "Don't think this little shindig is going to be that exciting though." Inside, I couldn't decide if that was good or bad. Our last few missions had been quite action packed, yet the idea of a boring mission wasn't great either.

"That's alright." Weiss spoke up, no doubt speaking for herself and Blake as well. I wasn't so sure Yang would be okay with a lazy mission, although for a different set of reasons. The man securitized us for a moment more, and it was an effort not to squirm under that gaze.

"Heh. Not too keen on fighting a whole army by your lonesome?" The Huntsman nodded. "A good choice. Stay alive longer that way." With a shrug, he seemed to find whatever it was he was looking for. "Well, you four seem ready to go?"

"Yup!" I nodded. We'd gotten into the habit of keeping everything we need to travel on a mission present at all times. Well, it wasn't quite a habit, we hadn't done _that_ many missions. "Where are we off to?" This was another Search and Destroy mission, so we'd be out in the wilderness…. again. The one sucky part about all these mission, was sleeping on the ground.

"Northern quadrant. Bunch of Ursa running rampant through the countryside, shouldn't be too hard to handle." The Huntsman shrugged. "Meet me on the landing pad in ten minutes, packed for a couple days." And without a further word, he turned, sweeping from the room, long purposeful strides eating up the distance.

"Well, he seems very businesslike." Weiss offered, watching the man's retreating back with one of her customary frowns. That was something she was doing more and more as we went on missions, although I was learning more and more to trust the meaning behind those frowns.

"How'd he know about the White Fang incident?" Blake's eyes were narrow as she turned to the rest of us. That was kinda weird, of all the things to talk about. "Our involvement in that was kept pretty secret, or at least the parts outside of the city. So how does he know?" It was a secret? I hadn't heard that it was going to be a secret. We'd just sort of avoided talking about it, except late at night, when one of us woke up from dreaming. Then again, nobody had talked about it, so I guess it was a secret.

"Maybe Ozpin told him?" It was a bit of a wild guess, the Headmaster had always seemed a little strange to me, but he didn't seem to try and put us in harm's way. Inviting the White Fang to attack us in retaliation however, didn't seem like something he'd so. So, the Headmaster was out as an option.

"It's possible he simply has useful connections?" Weiss sounded a bit skeptical of her suggestion. It was possible, but I didn't know enough to say for sure. "Or he was there somewhere. It isn't like we saw everyone who fought there." I nodded. It was true, there had been dozens fighting against the Grimm, especially after the word got out. We'd gotten comments from some Atlesean soldiers that had met us on missions even. It was kinda weird.

"Besides, it isn't as though being there was a bad thing." Yang offered a smirk. "We did help stop an invasion of Grimm." Only my sister would look at all this from the happy go lucky manner. Then again, for Yang, that's what it was.

"Let's get going then! We can worry about how he knows about things later?" Everyone nodded, pulling on backpacks, and double checking weapons, before putting game faces on. It was time for another mission….and we hadn't even got to sleep!

Then again, that was becoming our life, at least of the last month or two. Ever since that day when the White Fang breeched the walls of Beacon, we'd been getting more and more missions. Especially our team… Yang had asked around, according to her, we'd done twice as many missions as every time besides Jaune's. They at least got some sleep though! Everyone was really complimentary of we worked, which was super weird, telling us how good we were at killing stuff? One solider even said we did good, by killing the White Fang?! I'd thought Weiss was gonna puke.

I mean, I enjoyed fighting, and helping people was great, but it was tiring too, and we'd barely gotten any time to sleep between missions these last few times

As we walked, I took a moment to watch my team. Yang was cracking her knuckles, grinning just a bit. So, typical Yang. The idea of a fight always excited her, scratching that adrenaline bug she had. Ever since those Ursa in the Emerald Forest cut her hair, she'd been jumping at the bit to crack their heads. That said, her steps weren't quite as springy as normal…

Blake…well, I still wasn't that good at reading Blake. She was reserved, but there were growing bags under her eyes. Being a cat Faunus seemed to make her even more tired than the rest of us, or maybe it was because I don't think she slept much when we did get to sleep.

Weiss. She carried herself with the same grace that she always did, although I'm not sure I'd ever seen a time when Weiss wasn't graceful. Or, wasn't outwardly graceful. Months Weiss Watching, (yes, I called it that, yes it's embarrassing) had left me with a pretty good grasp of my partner. She was faking not being exhausted and worn down by the missions, but she was less than 100%.

"Good. Early. I like it." The Huntsman was leaning against the side of a Bullhead, giving a satisfied smile was we approached. My eyes snapped to the rifle hanging over his chest. The metal was matte finish, but it was easy to tell it was something unique. I'd have to ask him about it. "Hop in girlies, we've got ourselves a bit of a flight."

"Oh good. An actual time to sleep." I could almost hear the sarcastic, 'pity it isn't an actual bed' from Weiss. The biting sarcasm and snide tone were things she reserved for moments of high stress or anger, so she was even more tired than I thought. Whoops. Maybe I should tell Professor Ozpin we're not taking any more missions, we needed to sleep.

"A good use of time." The Huntsman nodded. "Flight's about two hours, give or take. Rest up if you need it, we're going to have to hit the ground running."

The others buckled themselves in, making sure their weapons were locked down, and within a moment were asleep, although it was the same light sleep we got out in the field. Taking the safety buckle that was provided, I made sure I was safe, before kneeling at the open door. Jaune had said something about being attacked by Griffons while flying home last week, not something I wanted to happen. Our… escort/guide/teacher/something, dropped down beside me, rifle held loosely in hand.

"Not going to sleep?" His voice was lowered, just barely audible over the roar of engines.

"Someone has to keep watch." I shrugged. I was the leader, it was my job to take first watch whenever we made camp, or had time to rest. Letting my eyes wander across the skyline, I took a moment to watch the dwindling form of Beacon Tower, a comforting and ominous sight all at once. Something cold was in my hand, and I realized with a bit of a jump that I had grabbed Crescent Rose.

"Easy there, girlie." The Huntsman rumbled. "Nothing's gonna pick a fight with a Bullhead. Least, not this close to town." That he was holding his own rifle close kinda made him look silly.

"But you've still got that ready." I pointed at his rifle. A small smile flashed across his thin lips, before it was hidden again. He was made even better than Weiss at hiding emotions.

"Better safe than sorry." We were silent for a while, scanning the skyline for any hint of Grimm, or at least I thought he was. "How many of these missions have you four been on lately?" The weight of his stare made me squirm inside, no matter how hard I tried to ignore the feeling. That had been getting worse as we kept getting more exhausted as well.

"After the White Fang one?" I took a moment to push some hair back into place. "Five? Six? A lot." I waited a minute, thinking he would say something, but the man stayed quiet, that chilling gaze into the trees. "This is the second one this week, at least." That was kinda a good question. How many missions had we done?

"Where was the first?" His voice was rough, growling out the words, expression severe. There was a certain level of…there-ness to him…presence! That was what Weiss called it.

"Mountain Glen again." A shudder got me for a moment. "Professor Ozpin said that since we had been in the area, and knew where the Grimm liked to concentrate, we should go back up the Atlesean troops." The meaty thumps of echoes played in my ears, equal halves of leaping beowolves that I had cut down, one after another after another. "It was just a single day, but…"

"But eight or nine hours of nothing but hacking and slashing Grimm to bits drains on you, doesn't it?"

"How did you-?" I snapped my eyes to him, twin brown orbs meeting my own without flinching.

He snorted, lips curling into a frown. "I've been reading the reports, from your other missions. Those soldiers gave you four a lot of praise. Said you went through Grimm like a hot knife." There was a pause, which only added to the weight in the moment. "Personally, I think Ozpin's lost his damn mind, sending you kids into this mess so much…" The man shook his head. "Particularly you first years. Just because you can leave a trail of five hundred dead Grimm in your wake doesn't mean that you can do so repeatedly."

"We can still fight." _Don't be childish, don't' be childish_ , I chanted to myself. I'd be fighting monsters for age, so had Yang, and I think Blake. And Weiss was getting really good too!

"I never said you can't, Ruby Rose. I'm saying you shouldn't have too." His lips curled in distaste, and I felt my checks warm with embarrassment at being hasty. "At least, not so often. That fact those three, and I would assume you as well, have developed the ability to just collapse to sleep like that, in a flying vehicle, and your immediate response is to keep watch…That says a lot about what you've been doing." He nodded towards Crescent Rose, I had drawn and unfolded the rifle form, and had been checking the scope for danger every so often. Yet, there was nothing. "So does that."

"Um…?" What does that mean?

"I've been in this business for about six years. All of your team has the same instincts and skills as veteran fighters, who've been around the block more than once. The way you carry yourselves screams combat prowess and confidence, earned the hard way." He released a long sigh. "I guess what I'm getting at here is, I respect you four a hell of a lot, and I'm sorry for the shit we're putting you through. You kids deserve a lot more time off than you're getting."

Oh. Um…what was I supposed to say to that? And, it wasn't like this was the first time any of us had been in fights. We'd fought that Torchwick guy, and the White Fang, and Grimm. Besides, we were training to be Huntresses. This sort of thing was going to be our work from here on out.

Putting thoughts of our past missions away, I shifted Crescent Rose, again scanning the trees. It was strange, how quiet the forest was. Grimm weren't terribly smart about hiding, but they did usually know how to stay in the shadows and the trees. Yet, despite looking really hard, I wasn't seeing anything. Not even a cloud of Nevermore, and those existed even back at home.

Taking my attention away from the outside, I took a glance at my sleeping teammates. Not that I would admit it, but I really wanted to curl up with them, and sleep. But someone had to keep watch, and I was the leader. So, I kept watch. Sleep was for later. Besides, I had coffee this morning.

A bit of motion drew my attention, the Hunter stepping into the cabin from the cockpit. Frowning, I realized something. "You never told us your name?"

"Ian. Blackwood." He gave a long shrug, spinning the rifle over his shoulder, and into a comfortable grip. "Never been much of one for introductions I guess. Way I see it, here to kill monsters, not make friends." And once again, the silence stretched on, lasting several minutes into minutes. Next to me, the now named Ian swept his own rifle sights across the skyline, before letting the weapon drop against his chest. "See anything?" He asked, as I repeated the action. For a moment, the question surprised me, before I realized that Crescent Rose had a way more advanced sight than his own rifle.

"Nope." I shook my head. "It's almost to empty. Last time we flew this far, there was at least more birds flying about." There weren't even any regular birds?

"Hrm." Stock pressing into his shoulder, Ian became pensive. Eyes sweeping the lower trees, he made a face. "I'd suggest firing a few shots into the tree line, see what scares up, but your team evidently needs the sleep, and I never built a silencer into this." He patted the side of his weapon, a small look of pride crossing his face

"Have you ever tried making a sniper rifle quiet?" I couldn't help but snort a bit. "I tried it, when making Crescent Rose. Just didn't work. Or maybe I just made her a bit to high caliber…." Pushing that thought aside, I turned my attention to the skyline. "You can't just make a silencer for that thing? It shouldn't be very hard to do?" His rifle seemed to be a much more advanced assault rifle, and at a glance, didn't have a folding mechanism like Crescent Rose, so it shouldn't be very hard to silence, or at least suppress somewhat.

"Double the accelerant." It was hard not to stare. He'd made his rifle use twice as much Dust for propellant? What? "Makes it hard to quiet down. Besides, I'll take raw stopping power over quiet any time." How did he not- "And yes, I'm aware I should break my shoulder firing it."

"No, but how do you keep the barrel from melting?" And how did he not break his shoulder? Recoil compensation wasn't that hard for something as big as Crescent Rose, but for a weapon that small, doubling the propellant for every bullet was going to create far more heat, and assault rifles were designed for rapid fire. If he managed to make it work though… That would probably be as effective as a regular sniper rifle, but able to fire way faster.

Ian rumbled a laugh, apparently not minding my weapon obsession, and possibly starry eyed look as he started explaining the principles of his weapon.

"Guys." The pilot had entered a circling pattern near the village we were headed toward. Being careful to keep my balance, having unclipped the safety belt, as the aircraft turned, I moved over to my team, giving them each a bit of a tap on the shoulder. They snapped awake, reaching for weapons, before focusing on me, and relaxing a small amount. "We're getting ready to land."

All three nodded, blinking away the last bits of sleep, and pulling themselves out of the seats, expressions turning a bit more serious. Antics would wait until after the Grimm were gone.

"Oh fuck this." As one, our attention snapped to Ian, his expression impressed and angry, as he leaned out of the window "That's why the fuckers have been quiet." We traded a confused glance. Despite everything, we had yet to encounter a Huntsman who swore a lot, so this was a new experience. "They've been stalking underneath us. Clever." Ooh…. that was why we hadn't seen any…but it was also kinda weird. Grimm weren't that smart though?

"What?" Blake shook her head, the tips of her bow twitching a tiny bit, from nervousness or something else, I didn't know. Figuring out Blake's expressions had been hard enough, adding ears? Nope. "The Grimm followed under the aircraft?"

The Hunter made a face, firing a burst over the edge. "Looks like. There's about two dozen down there, slavering for blood. Just following us as we circle." His expression was far more serious than the previous laid back smirks and shrugs. "Got any ideas?"

"Drop down on their heads?" Yang offered, stretching a bit, as her gauntlets spiraled out to full size on her wrists. "Two dozen Beowolves isn't too bad." I'd fought worse than that going to school, and so had Yang.

Well, Yang could use her gauntlets to slow her fall. Weiss had her glyphs, and Blake's various acrobatics. And recoil would slow me down just as well as throw me about. Part of me thought it wasn't a good idea, but we'd done the whole, fighting our way off the Bullhead thing, and that was not fun at all. "We all have our own ways of getting down so …" I stopped talking as Weiss glared into the back of my head. Pulling out Crescent Rose, and thumbing the catch to fold the rifle out.

Ian gave a long stare, before a slight nod. "Well, it's better than fighting our way into a safe LZ." Glancing over the edge again, he fired a few more times, and mouthed more profanity. I guess he missed? "After you." Stepping away from the edge, he motioned towards me.

We were hovering over a fair sized forest clearing, easily large enough for the Bullhead to land in, had it not been teaming with Grimm. We were high enough up that…at least two Gravity rounds would be needed to slow me down. Weiss was still glaring into the back of my head, as I settled my grip, and jumped.

Flipping forwards, I got a brief view of Weiss leaping after me, a series of her glyphs spiraling into existence plotting the path she would take to the ground. Yang and Blake jumped at the same time, just falling as I was.

My flip completed, I fired my first shot, the jerk of the energy slowing the moment of the world around me a lot. Below, one of the Beowolves was smashed in half, blood flying everywhere. Another tap of the locking mechanism, and my scythe unfolded in my hand, before the ground was rushing up to meet me.

A small Aura pulse sent another shot flying, this time, the bullet smashed through a Beowolf's head, leaving a small crater underneath. As I slowed, I few into and out of the spray of blood, my knees bending to land, scythe twirling around.

The ground gave off the occasional hiss as a globe of Beowolf spit dropped, before two of them leapt towards me. Spinning Crescent Rose around me in a circle, I felt the small tug as the blade cut into wolves, before bringing it up, chopping the leaping monster in half. A shower of warm and sticky fluid, along with meaty chunks of…something splattered all over the ground…and me.

A beowolf lunged forwards, fangs dripping with the acidic imitation saliva that with a crash, Yang hit the ground, a whoop of glee as a pair of Grimm were smashed to dust underneath her, before she punched one that had been in the process of jumping towards me. The crack of her gauntlet firing signaled the end of the creature.

Weiss arrived with a more dignified landing, arms twisting to bring her rapier into her traditional fighting stance, a series of her haste glyphs whirling to life about her feet. Spinning off a tree, Blake rolled into position as well, firing a string of shots into the not thoroughly confused Grimm, killing two.

The still living Grimm snarled, fangs dripping, red eyes flitting between the four of us, as though unsure who to attack first. Adrenaline pulsing, the half a second of waiting drug on for _ages._ Then, the largest Beowolf lunged towards Weiss. Without a pause, however, she flipped a wrist, one of her barrier glyphs forming, and throwing the creature in my direction.

Crescent Rose twisted in my hand, and the Beowolf fell in two more pieces, signaling the rest of them to attack.

Six of them came at me, snarling and howling. Spinning full circle, they came to a mess death. Rolling forwards, I cut another in half as it jumped, before jumping backs, and firing to send myself away. Blake came flashing in and out of my vision, and the Grimm was headless.

Landing, someone's foot tapped against mine. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing a flash of white, and a swirling of symbols, before the soft hiss of Grimm corpses was the only sound in the clearing, the explosions from Yang's punches, and sound of Blake flashing in and about.

"Ruby, must you run _through_ the mess you make?" the exasperation in Weiss's was made worse by the roll of her eyes, as the pristine state of her own clothing. "We just got the bloodstains out of your clothes from the last time."

"Ehehe…sorry Weiss." It wasn't like anyone could see the bloodstains! Besides, all I needed was a shower. And I'd like to see her come up with a better way to fight using a scythe.

"No, you're not." The complaining was undercut by the way she smiled at me, although most people wouldn't realize it was a smile. Maybe being covered in blood was good, because she couldn't see my blush? Yup. A good thing.

"You two done flirting?" Ian's words cut in. I jumped, not having seen him leave the Bullhead, or take part in… well that wasn't really a fight. We'd fought a lot more things with equally little difficulty. "Nice work though. Swift and efficient." He paused, glancing around the clearing that, until ten minutes ago, and been pristine. "If messy."

"Err…whoops?" I glanced around. None of us looked particularly ashamed of what we'd caused. The previously natural clearing was now covering in blood, craters from Yang's punches, bullet holes, impact sights from my rifle, gashes in the trees, and more. It was as though a portion of the sections we cleared in Mountain Glenn were transported to this forest clearing. Although that wasn't a fun thought.

"Eh, all good. We need to get moving though. Grimm will be dropping on this place likes flies." His eyes gleamed in the fading sun. "The village is about hour north at a quick run. Go collect some information then get moving. Hordes of Grimm that big can't have gone very far."

And with that, we set off. Ian led the way, running with a long loping stride. We followed in a loose group.

"Weiss." Slowing myself down was hard, as running felt like moving through syrup or something. It helped a little to focus on matching Weiss's steps, instead of just running, because then I'd super speed off and that wasn't much help.

"What?" The Schnee heiress was frowning heavily. Her eyes were darting around, and the grip on her rapier was a little too much.

"Something's bugging you." Over six months, I had learned the ways to know that something wasn't right with my partner. She was good at hiding her emotions, and deflecting questions, so it was lots of watching her eyes, and grip, and the way she stood, or the little hitches in her voice when talking.

"I just can't shake the feeling something bad is coming." Jumping over a branch without breaking stride, she gave a sigh. The upside to getting Weiss to open up, at least a little bit, was that she'd at least tell me when things were wrong, so I didn't have to guess, and annoy her. "It's just a feeling but there is something not right. It's just like the times…." The Schnee heiress trailed off, but the small stumble at the end was all I needed to know what she was talking about.

None of us talked about our home lives much, Blake, because well…White Fang, Yang never liked talking about Raven, and I didn't tend to talk about Mom much either. Since home never came up, we wouldn't talk about Dad. And then there was Weiss. Aside from a few specific occasions, whenever Weiss's family came up, she'd clam up. Either that, or just trail off, just like that.

"Don't worry." Best thing I could manage whenever she'd get like this was just try and being there, and a friend, since she wouldn't talk about it. "We've dealt with everything that came our way so far right? We can handle whatever happens, as a team. Just like we always have." Before I realized I was going it, I grabbed her hand, hoping I was turning the same color as my cloak at the action.

"I guess. It's just…a bad feeling." She tried to smile, even though it wasn't very convincing one. "Probably just imagining things." Weiss didn't imagine things though. She'd yet to have a 'feeling' that turned out bad. All I could do though, was give her hand a bit of a squeeze, and try not to blush at how much I enjoyed the coolness of her skin.

"Heads up!" Ian's rumble "Village is up ahead!" His rifle was no longer on his back, instead held across his body. The symbol on the side of the magazine indicated it was non-standard variety of dust round. "Ruby, can you hop ahead and see if anything looks out of place?"

"Ready?" I shared bit glance with Weiss. A little smile crossed her face, I suspect at the nature of the question. Her free hand twitched, and I gave a small nod.

"Of course silly." Even as I released her hand, a glyph appeared on the side of a tree. I a burst of speed, I jumped, hitting the arcane symbol, and sprinting up the rest of the way. Crouching, I took off down the length of the tree branch, jumping at full speed, leaving behind my customary trail of rose petals.

Although it was only for a second to two at a time, running and jumping between trees, not having to slow down and wait for anyone else did feel good. Using Crescent Rose to spin myself around the last tree, before stopping on the last branch, I could help but gasp, my chest tightening in shock.

Even at a time like this, and so soon after Grimm attacks, people would be and about. Except, there weren't people. A tap, and Crescent Rose folded, and I brought the Scope up, a ball of worry continuing to form in my stomach.

The instant the image focused in, I regretted looking. Blood coated the walls of various houses and buildings, windows were smashed… Dust….so much blood… My fingers fumbled for my Scroll, and I almost dropped in in my panic.

"Ian! Everyone!" The short range radio communicators inside picked up, showing the miniature portraits of my team, and the Huntsman. "There's…There's nothing left!" Before I could continue, something in the distance released a trumpeting bellow.

"Ruby, what the hell was that?" Yang's worry was obvious. As was the unspoken, where is it?

"I don't know. I can't see anything that would do that, at least not in the village!" The only Grimm I knew that made that kind of noise were those Goliaths that Oobleck had shown me in Mountain Glen, when he said that even Crescent Rose couldn't hurt them from long range. If one of those things showed up…Almost at once ideas of how to kill one starting dancing around my head.

"Well, we can take that mercy as it is." Cool and collected, Ian took over, the underlying command in in his tone reminding me a bit of Uncle Qrow. "Hold tight until we get there, keep us updated it any Grimm make an appearance. And don't engage."

"Got it." Gulping, I tried to settle the nerves that had hit me, as well as not looking towards the village. We'd seen people die before, some soldiers, before they realized we knew what we were talking about in Mountain Glenn, and before that in the city. We'd even killed a few people, those White Fang jerks, although most of them where in those robots…. But these people…they weren't fighting, or terrorists, or anything like that. They just…got killed because they were in the wrong place. I wanted to be a Huntress so I could prevent this stuff from happening, and I had a Semblance made for getting places fast. So why was I too late? Why did we always seem just a little too late?

"Dust…." Weiss whispered, from the bottom of the tree I was in. Quiet incredulity filled her tone. "It's so quiet…." I dropped out of the tree, landing in my usual spot between Weiss and Yang.

"I don't see anybody alive in there." I reported, trying not to choke on the words. "The Grimm…they…" This time, it was Weiss's hand that slipped into mine. Taking a breath, I kept going. "Everyone's dead. Or at least…. there's a lot of blood. And I don't see any bodies."

"Damnit!" Yang swore, driving her fist into a nearby tree. The bark crunched under the blow, splintering in all directions, several pieces burying themselves into the dirt, a testament to the force of the blow.

Ian scowled as well, spinning his rifle around his back. "We'll need to search for any ideas what happened. Make sure we find the Grimm responsible." His sharp features almost seemed to elongate, as his jaw set in anger. "And give the dead a proper burial." He started towards the village, thunderous expression plain as day. "Search everything, top to bottom. Hopefully there are survivors…somewhere." He paused a step. "And see if there is a sturdy building we can camp in for the night."

"Um…right…" I gulped. "Pairs?" I offered, trading a glance with the others. Yang was still glaring, her eyes tinting a little bit red, while Blake's grip on her weapon was turning her knuckle white. Weiss had lost any semblance of emotion, and her hand was frigid against my own. "Weiss and I search the buildings?" She probably had a glyph to prop up and unstable ones…

"Sounds good sis." Yang nodded, more subdued than normal. "Be careful?" I gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile, and she followed Blake into the town. Weiss pulled me along by the hand, at least until the other two passed out of sight, before rounding on me.

"Something is bothering you." Had I mentioned that there was a big downside to being able to understand the little cues of Weiss was that she had figured out me too? And was really really good at it? How she didn't know about... _something_ I'd never know.

"N-No there's not." I made the denial in the vain hope she would drop it, only get a frosty stare in return. Nope. She wasn't having any of it. Darn. Her free hand came to rest on her hip. "Can't we talk about it later?" That usually worked. Please work? Please?

"No." Oh. Come on. "You aren't your usual bubbly self. Now what's bugging you." Leave it to Weiss to just go right after the problem. She was my best friend/partner/crush, but she could be so annoying. "Ruby." And then she had to go and do that. It wasn't quite pleading, that concerned tone. But it made it even harder to avoid the question she was asking.

"Just…leave it for now Weiss? We need to worry about the mission." I wasn't sure she would, even though I was pleading for her to do so. Blue eye searched mine, before she huffed.

"Fine. For now," Twirling her rapier, she shifted her stance, and releasing my hand. "Start with that one?" I glanced at the building. One of its walls seemed to be falling in, and the windows were smashed, but we had to start somewhere.

"Darnit!" Spinning Crescent Rose, I hacked a chair in half out of frustration. Over two hours of searching, and hadn't found much of anything. No survivors, not even bodies. Just a bloody mess outside, and the occasional splash blood over the destroyed interiors. Just a few minutes ago, Blake had stuck her head in, to report they hadn't found anything, and although Ian had found a Huntsman, apparently it would have been better if didn't. I had tried not to think about what that meant.

"It's barbaric." Weiss agreed, as we stepped onto the roof of the building. The roof was caved in, making such a jump easy. "Just hop the roof?" We gotten in the habit of just hoping between buildings using her glyphs, although it did mean we had to be careful of falling in. This one however, was in good shape, the roof seemed sturdy enough, and the three walls we could see were still standing.

"Sure." A short hop, using a glyph as a stepping stone brought us across. I gave the roof a bit of a kick, surprised when it stayed standing. "I guess this wouldn't be bad place to camp, if the inside is still together."

"At least it has four walls." My partner agreed. "Although I'm not sure sleeping in this town is a good idea at all." This was getting beyond just usual Weiss levels of worried by now. On some of our other missions, she'd get bad feelings, but never this bad. That however could wait until later in the evening.

"Wonder why this one's still okay?" Weiss grumbled to herself. That was a good question. All the other houses were trashed, inside and out. While the windows were mostly smashed, the furniture inside was in once piece, as were the walls and doors. The floor wasn't covered in claw marks either. No blood either…but no shower. I really wanted a shower too. Grimm guts smelled awful dried into clothes. Pausing at a broken second floor window, I stared out into the remains of the village. This was all so weird…

"Ruby!" Weiss's almost panicked shout sent my heart racing. Crescent Rose unfurled into a full scythe, and in a flash of speed, I was across the room, and down the flight of stairs, expecting some kind of trouble. Instead, I found Weiss, kneeling over something. "This one seems to have a safe? I can't seem to understand this lock though…" She stood up, retrieving her rapier and glaring down at the offending object.

Vaulting a couch, I moved to stand beside the older girl, staring down at the heavily reinforced metal plate in the floor. Some kind of locking mechanism occupied the side closest to where we stood. "Wonder what's so important…" I trailed off, eyes widening. "Do you think there are people under there?!"

"Maybe…" She didn't sound very convinced though. "I would have thought they'd come out by now, and it seems awful small to be some kind of basement." Even as she said the words, she was pulling out her Scroll, finger's dancing. "We found something."

"Survivors?" Yang's face appeared on the screen, Blake beside her. Both were covered in dirt and grime. It was kinda weird, seeing my sister such a messy, normally I was the one who got covered in mud at things.

"It's possible, but I wouldn't bet on it. This building has some kind of safe or basement. Either way, it's locked." She flipped the Scroll to show them.

"Well, whatever's down there, it's well protected." Ian observed. "Be there in a minute to check it out."

The sun was falling fully as the group gathered over the locked trapdoor. I could see the exhaustion, emotional and otherwise, on the faces of my team, and even Ian seemed drained.

"Well, they wanted to keep people out, that's for damn sure." He growled, staring at the lock on what we had concluded was a safe. "This is Atlas Tech. Pain to crack by normal means. Probably got some kind of Dust sequence lock, which is going to complicate things just a bit."

"So we can't get into it?" Yang slumped at the thought. The Huntsman's lips thinned.

"I'm not sure. It's possible we could get lucky. Or, we can just brute force the thing." There was a pause. "The latter option is by far the worst one, as hitting this fucker with a high powered weapon is probably going to end horribly."

"I'm not shooting it." I declared flatly. When everyone, even my sister stared at me, I groaned, point at Crescent Rose, then the safe. "Shooting metal is bad! Bullets just short of explode all over the place! I don't want to die!"

"Caution from you?" Weiss teased. "Should we be getting lottery tickets?" Yang and Blake both chuckled.

Ian snorted. "Not yet. It's possible the only way we can get things thing open is brute force. Be that fire arms, or we just smash it was heavy objects until it breaks. Or sharp ones." His shrug was mystified. "It's possible that Ruby's scythe could just cut the damn thing open, and save us a ton of trouble, but that almost might just explode." I'm not dulling my sweetheart on that lump of metal!

"Oh." Yang went quiet. Blake shifted uneasily next to her.

"You said it's Atlas Tech? Our reserved Faunus teammate stepped forward, kneeling in front of it. "I might be able to get into it." Yang shrugged at my question look, so she didn't know about this either.

"Save it for tomorrow." Ian advised. "Dark's falling. We'll need to make camp, and figure out how we're doing watch."

"What do you mean, how we're doing watch?" Yang cut in. "We take shifts, just like normal." I shook my head, seeing what Ian meant.

"Ian and I are the only ones who have these," reaching behind me, I gave Crescent Rose a pat, "Long range weapons, and the scopes?" Giving Ian a look to ensure I got it right, I went on. "Since we don't know anything about what attacked, we need as much warning as we can get."

"Ruby is right. In a situation like this, we need at much edge on the Grimm as we can get. And that mean's the scopes on either of our rifles trump pretty much anything, even Faunus eyesight, due to distance." His words quenched Blake's complaint, and kept going at an exclamation from Yang. "Call it a hunch, but the way your carry yourself screams Faunus, much like how she," he gestured to Weiss, "Is obviously an aristocrat, or Ruby and her sister are obviously heavily experienced fighters." Now that was kinda weird. How could he just…know this stuff? I could almost feel the confusion and discontent radiating off of Weiss.

There wasn't much talking after that. Ian volunteered to take the first watch, leaning against the wall far enough away to not hear whispers, but close enough for earshot. His rifle rested on the window sill, and on occasion, his head would bend down, staring through the sights, before leaning back up again, the only signs of movement.

I couldn't rest, instead keeping myself busy by leaning up against the wall, and cleaning the dirt out of Crescent Rose. While there hadn't been enough going on to really risk the weapon being jammed, or the folding mechanism having a failure, I wasn't about to risk it. I'd had a few to many close calls during the prototyping stages to feel comfortable unless it as completely clean. …and maybe my scythe was dusty.

"Ruby?" With a soft rustle, Weiss dropped down next to me, not seeming to mind the dust getting on her otherwise relatively pristine outfit. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Can't." I shook my head. Flipping a bit of dust out of the locking mechanism, I pulled the bolt back to check the chamber for anything else.

"You need sleep as much as we do." Weiss pointed out, and I found myself suddenly very aware of just how close my teammate was sitting to me. Don't panic. It's just Weiss. "We know you didn't sleep on the flight out Ruby." Oh. Of course Weiss would notice…and probably so would Yang. At least my sister would leave it alone, unless she thought it was bad. I clicked the chamber of Crescent Rose shut, gripping the weapon tightly in an effort to focus on something, anything else. "We worry about you Ruby."

"I'm fine." That was a lie. Not even a good lie either. Even as I said the words, I knew Weiss would see through them.

"I'm Ruby Rose. I can do everything. I don't' need to sleep, even though I'm halfway to falling over." Yup. I couldn't remember who first called her Ice Queen, but it wasn't as although she didn't deserve the title…but most of those boys were creeps anyway. Except Jaune. He was okay. "And there is something else bothering you as well."

Of course she would remember that. Then again, we were partners, and did known each other really well. So maybe something else came up. And here I thought I was doing a good job keeping everything under control.

"I could have been here sooner; I should have been able to do…something." An effectual gesture was all I could come up with to convey the feelings bouncing around my head. "I…" words failed completely to convey the helplessness of it all. We'd never been this late. My knuckles were white on the grip of Crescent Rose. "My semblance is literally super speed Weiss, and I wasn't fast enough…"

Her fingers peeled my left hand off my scythe, only to be immediately crushed as my fist tried to ball. The tension let up a moment later when the shock of just how cold her hands were hit me. And the fact that I was holding hands with Weiss. For the second or third time today. If I wasn't so tired, and stressed out, I might have been internally dancing.

After a few moments, I slumped back against the wall. "Sorry Weiss." I hated dumping my problems on anyone, least of all Weiss. "You've got other stuff to worry about…."

"Nonsense." She declared, in the no nonsense manner that Weiss occasionally would get about herself whenever we had these disagreements. "Your part of the team Ruby. We care about you. And." She trailed off. In the half light, I couldn't tell what her expression was, but none the less, her words made something in me flutter with excitement.

Thanks' Weiss." I whispered, trying to figure out just what about that made me so happy. Or maybe it was just Weiss being this close to me.

"Ruby." Someone was shaking my shoulder, which I tried very hard to ignore. I was having a nice dream, and didn't want to leave it. "Ruby." The shoulder shaking was more forceful. Whoever that was needed to go away. When they continued, I reluctantly opened my eyes.

"Wha…" Two piercing blue eyes met mine, although the angle was a little strange. I was laying on something that wasn't a floor either.

"About time." Weiss's half smile undercut her sarcasm. "When did you decide I was a pillow." Oh! Oh!

Panic flared through me. I had fallen asleep on Weiss. Weiss was touching me. I was touching Weiss. Twisting, I forced myself into a twisting flip, accidently flying across the room. I had to get away, somewhere, not here! My checks were burning, and this was all sorts of not things I wanted to be doing now.

Well, I did. I really wanted to be doing that, but…no! Not thinking about that. Nothing thinking about sleeping on Weiss. Or Weiss. Or sleep. Or any of that right now.

"Eheehehe…sorry!" And Super speed is awesome. No longer there. Elsewhere. Hopefully Weiss wouldn't be to mad at me? Oh…oh that might had been not smart.

"Morning sis!" and now Yang. Please let her not have seen that? Please? One look at her face though, told me I was not getting off easy at all. "So…." She leaned against the table, radiating amusement.

"Yaannggg." It was an effort to keep my voice low, but years of experience helped.

"What?" Oh I hated that grin. She just had to enjoy this, didn't she? "It was cute?" She gave me a friendly punch in the shoulder. "Good for you sis!"

"Shut up!" Flailing about a bit, I knew that if I didn't distract her, I was basically done for. "Where's Blake? And Ian?" The face Yang made at me told me she knew I was changing the subject, before she waved towards the living room.

"Blake is trying to crack that safe…thing." She paused, sending a contemplative look towards the room. "Learn something new every day, you know?" I guess Blake did learn something cool from those White Fang jerks. "Ian is…I think up on the roof. He just sorta vanished this morning." She paused, rifling through a bag. "Should probably give him breakfast." A protein bar went flying at my head. "Pretty gross, but not really time to go cooking, you know?"

"Yeah." Grabbing a few more in a burst of speed, I chewed on the bar while making my way back up the building, hoping very much to not run into Weiss on the way.

Speaking of Weiss, how had I fallen asleep on Weiss? I hadn't fallen asleep on anyone since Mom died, not even Yang or Dad. And why didn't Weiss wake me up? Urgh. This all just made my head hurt.

Despite being good at knowing what went on in Weiss's head, I really had no idea what our relationship was exactly. Everyone at Beacon either thought we were just really strange friends, but I'd stop listening to what most people thought a long time ago. Most of them were just wrong or unhelpful. We'd banter and insult each other, but we both didn't mean anything by most of it, even though most everyone else found themselves really confused.

Though, maybe it was just my hopeless crush on her, but there always seems like…there was more to it than that? She seemed to care a lot more than any other friends I'd had and…I was probably just seeing things.

All those thoughts were derailed when I stepped onto the roof, and Weiss was there, speaking in low tones with Ian. In the distance, a swirling tide of blackness could be seen. My hand snapped to Crescent Rose. Grimm?

"Get your team." Yup. Grimm. "Whatever blew through here is back for more." He stood, unslinging his rifle. Weiss met my eyes, taking a slow gulp, before a nod. "Least, them Griffon's look pissy."

I pulled out my Scroll, typing a message to Blake and Yang, while Weiss asked the obvious question. "Why would so many Grimm be here, now of all times though? I thought they followed trails of human activity, which is why Grimm attacks have so few survivors." Waving a hand around, as though to emphasize the point, it looked like she wanted to go on, but just like the day before, there was a trumpeting roar. Only this time, closer, and longer. My heart skipped.

"Goliaths…" that was bad. Blake and Yang came clattering onto the roof, both of them weapons ready.

"What was that!" Blake's eyes were wide, her head darting back and forth across the tree line ahead.

"Really big Grimm." I offering into the silence. "And really old ones." For a moment, I found at least one bright spot. "At least now I can kill one!" That thought got my blood pumping a bit, and working past the instinctive fear of something I supposedly can't shoot to death. That was, of course, if Crescent Rose could cut them.

"How big are we talking?" The excitement in Yang's tone died in the second of silence.

"Several stories if their young. Five or six if their old." Ian scowled. "If the circumstances were different, I'd say this is the part where we run like hell. But running from those ugly bastards, once they smell you just isn't gonna happen.

"Why not?" Weiss demanded, eyes flitting between me and the Huntsman.

"Because they're smart." When Ian didn't speak, I took over. "And old. Professor Oobleck told me he doesn't even think Crescent Rose can hurt one from a distance." That drew startled looks from my entire team. Back at Beacon, most of the first years considered the metric of possible damage done to be what I could do with my Scythe, especially the sniper rifle. Even Cardin, with his massive mace had trouble matching the pin point destructive power of a .50 caliber sniper.

"So…" Yang filled the silence, only to be overtaken by a series of long, bone chilling howls. "…anyone know what those are?"

"Things that are here." Ian's rifle slid into his hand in a single motion, before he froze. "Dust…what the hell is that…."

I pulled Crescent Rose free of its holster, thumbing the action to unfold the scythe immediately. The weapon was halfway through flipping through expansion, when a _thing_ came flying over the lip of the roof in a single massive bound.

Who or whatever that thing was, it had clearly been human at one point. The same could no longer be said. Flipping backwards in response to this new threat, I had only a split second to make a judgement.

Fur sprouted from every inch of the body, a mottled mess of grey and brown and block. The eyes were yellow, sunken and deranged. A previously human face was distorted, a muzzle now stretching forward several inches, lined with what seemed to be serrated teeth. Layers of muscle that wouldn't exist on a regular person rippled as the thing landed, crouching. Its eyes locked on Weiss.

My shot lined up.

The heavy bark of my sniper scattered the rising howls.

With a soft thump, my boots hit the roof, which shook from just a moment later, the corpse falling listless. Blood and organs splattered across the wall of the house not far away, if one looked hard enough, a single bullet sized hole in the center of the bloody mess. The creature was surrounded by an ever growing pool of blood spilling from what appeared to be oh so small hole in this side of the body, but would have results in a massive wound to the far side.

I took a shuddering breath. It wasn't as though it was the first time I killed a person…that thing had been a person, or at least I thought so. But it was the first where I saw the results of that killing so up close and personal. The blood and guts were the same as any Grimm, but it was the eyes that were different. In the half a second between my firing and hitting the ground, I'd watched the life vanish.

My stomach dropped, and I found myself kneeling, Crescent Rose hitting the wood before me. Cold fingers wrapped around my shoulder, and I looked up to find Weiss, expression filled with concern. That same warmth shot through me as before.

"What the hell are these things?" I looked up, just in time to see Yang punching another of those creatures in the chest, sending it flying off the roof. "People?"

Rifle rising to his shoulder, Ian fired a quick burst. "They were. Now there…. monsters. Twisted mockeries." He fired another volley. "This isn't the time for talking." The trumpeting bellow of the incoming goliath rang, closer than before. "Those things aren't human, at least no longer. Best thing you can give them is a quick painless death." The words struck me as pained, for some reason.

"We need to stop those Grimm." Grabbing Crescent Rose, I stood trying my best to ignore the dead…thing on the roof.

"We'll handle these things." Yang tossed me a cocky smile and a nod, before blasting two more of them mid leap with her gauntlets. Blake rolled her eyes, but gave a sharp nod. "You know more about whatever that thing is that we do sis."

Ian scowled, before nodding a bit. "You're going to have a better chance slowing down a Goliath than I will." He didn't seem to enjoy that admission. "Worry more about staying alive than fighting you two." A twitch, and he emptied more than two dozen rounds into the sky towards the flying Grimm. The click of the chamber emptying was surprisingly loud. "we'll handle this clusterfuck."

"Stay safe?" I gave Yang a weak smile, before leaping from room to roof in a flash of speed.

Two shots of Crescent Rose sent me flipping higher, Weiss following behind, leaping from glyph to glyph. Gravity Bullet's helped the makeshift flying, and with a third bullet, I performed a full slip, landing a glyph next to Weiss. Her eyes were locked toe massive Grimm approaching the remains of the village. Dozens of Grimm followed in the Goliath's wake as well, leaving a path of smashed trees and forest in their wake. Above them, several dozen Griffons circled.

"We're…supposed to kill that." Weiss gulped, grip on her rapier tightening. The chamber spun, settling on Ice Dust. "And everything else."

"Yup!" Spinning Crescent Rose, I took aim the giant Grimm, firing once. My aim was good, and the bullet struck the thing head on, sinking deep into bone without seeming to cause any further damage. "Dust…." It roared in response, my bullet having only made it mad. The Griffons, in response, came swooping.

"Weiss!" Her eyes hardened, giving me a bit of a nod. Her rapier twirled, and she was flipping through the air, conjuring rapid-fire glyphs, ice flashing and shattering.

Tearing my focus away from her, I had only a second to consider the best way to handle the mass of Grimm I was falling into. I had four Gravity Rounds left in this magazine. Firing two rounds into the Goliath, I reoriented, blasting a pair of Ursa.

Chunks of Grimm flew upwards, as the Gravity rounds drove massive craters into the earth where the Ursa had been. Yanking a fresh magazine from my belt, I hit the ground, ejected my old one, and reloaded in a single motion, before spinning to face the oncoming hordes.

The Goliath was even bigger from down here, each lumbering step knocking down a tree or even squishing a few Grimm. The Gravity bullets had done all of nothing, which was…okay, it was kinda scary. Those bullets left craters in the earth, and could break large rocks. And they didn't even phase this thing?

My freak out was cut short by the claws of an Ursa. Reflexes and instinct had my sliding back, Crescent Rose coming up for a cut that sent the beast to its untimely death, and opened the floodgates of Grimm. Blood pounding in my ears, I kicked off the ground, willing myself to the limits of my speed.

Two beowolves cut in half lengthwise. Plant, flip, a dead Ursa. Spin, fire twice. Three Ursa dead. Duck, twirl, fire again. Three more Grimm.

The earth was becoming soaked in Grimm blood as I exploded with speed, Crescent Rose tear through still more Grimm, the already sharp blade of my scythe enhanced by the fact that it was traveling at truly super human speeds. Spinning, I crouched, gathering energy for a second blistering charge.

The Grimm glanced around stupidly, not realizing I had already vanished, only that, out of nowhere dozens of them were dead.

I kicked off again, the earth denting from the force. My clothes had to be covering in blood, at least more than they were before, from the pools of it I was kicking up. To be honest it was kinda gross.

So too was the noise and Ursa made when you decapitate it from the side. Performing a flip over the swiping claws of a Beowolf, I fired into the ground, recoil propelling me into the air a dozen feet. As I fell, I kept firing, counting the exploding Grimm in time with my bullets. Yet, not matter how many of them I destroyed another just lunged from the shadows. And that was before I even thought about the Goliath.

Reloading, this time with Lightening Dust, I fired a few more shots, noting that the arcing shocks did a better job of clearing the massed Grimm, and let my Semblance carry me forwards once more.

Great sweeping slashes left more and more Grimm dead, and I let momentum carry me up a still standing tree, before flipping, and volleying fire into the hoard below.

The recoil of several continuous shots sent me flipping here than normal, high enough to hear the heavy boom of Yang's gauntlet's firing, and the higher pitched fire of Blake's pistol, overlaid with what could only be assault rifle fire. Ejecting the magazine from Crescent Rose, I started firing again, when something white went flying past my side.

White. The only thing white around here was, "WEISS!" NO no no no! I managed to twist around in midair in time to see a puff of dirt rising up from the woods, right in the path of the Grimm. Before I could figure out more, something crashing into my back, and I could feel talons ripping at the protective shield of my aura. Whatever it was, I started tumbling head over heels.

Firing one to reorient myself, I glared at the last few surviving Griffons. With a mechanical clatter, Crescent Rose reformed as a rifle, and I started shooting. Griffons weren't exactly smart, making the tumbling mid-air shots pretty simple. Feathers and gore flew everywhere as I scored hit after hit, until Crescent Rose clicked empty, and I realized the one mistake I might have made.

Firing upwards, while I was falling had sent me flying way past where Weiss had hit the ground, and way faster than I indeed. I hit the ground, and went rolling through the brush, wincing as branches and vines whipped into me from the force of my landing. The instant both my feet were on the ground as the same time, I threw my Aura into them, and my Semblance took over.

Twisting through the air, I used trees as a faster means of turning, not caring about the damage. I had to get to Weiss. "Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay…" It wasn't until I actually saw her, collapsed motionless at the far end of a larger clearing, that I realized I was mumbling to myself. Jamming my scythe into the ground to slow myself down, I came skidding to a half next to her. "No. Nonononononono!" I was shaking her shoulders, trying to find something to convince me she was okay. I couldn't see any blood, but she wasn't moving. "Weiss!"

Slowly, her scarred eye opened, a little bit unfocused, before locking to me. "Ruby?" Her words slurred, just a bit, but she was okay."

"You're okay!" Throwing my arms around the other girl, I pulled her into a hug.

"Of course I'm okay." I couldn't see it, but she had to be rolling her eyes, before she pushed me back a bit, and glared down at her dress. "Aside from being covered in the results of your barbarity." Oh. Whoops.

"Sorry Weiss." I shrugged. Did I feel bad about ruining her dress? A little bit, but she'd just drag me into town to go shopping and get a new one. Besides, I was more interested in making sure she was okay. Worry about that later. "What happened?" Although she'd yell at me for thinking it, Weiss should have been good enough to handle all those Griffons. Well, I guess there were a lot of them…

"Just too many stupid, feathered, lumps." Wincing, my partner stood, twirling her rapier, the chamber spinning a few times. "I'd kill one, and then there was another two of them." That sounded about like killing the ones down here, really. I hadn't been really counting how many Grimm I sent to pieces but more just kept coming.

"There are a lot of them." I agreed, frowning a bit as I reloaded Crescent Rose, more Gravity Dust this time, although I realized I was running out of them. "We need to get the big one." As though to reinforce that point, the Goliath gave another trumpeting roar.

Weiss offered me one of her little half smirks, testing the way her legs took her weight, before nodding. "I'm guessing you have a plan?" Err? Before I got to answer, the trees at the far side of the clearing came crashing down, the horde of Grimm pouring in after. Weiss leapt to right, and I went rolling to the left.

My best guess was, we could maybe get the Grimm to run if we killed the Goliath, or if nothing else, once we killed it, we could run, and get the others. The problem was, of course, the thing was way too big to hurt with my normal bullets, or my gravity bullets. Although….

"Weiss! Freeze the ground in front of it!" I shouted, hitting the ground, and bursting with speed across the field killing a few Grimm, and drawing the attention of the rest.

"I'll need a few seconds!" I knew that silly. Twirling Crescent Rose, I faced the Grimm, and planted the scythe blade into the dirt, and started shooting. Two Boarbatusks, spinning full speed towards me, were ripped in half, the bullets going on to detonate in an Ursa, throwing more blood and gore everywhere.

Ducking under the claws of a Beowolf, I dragged Crescent Rose free, cutting the monster free, before spinning the Scythe around fully, clearing a moment to breathe, before another Ursa came charging. I cut its head off without pause, deflecting a Beowulf's claws before exploding into full speed, tearing through a leaping Grimm, letting the two halves hit the ground on either side as I streaked across the clearing, grip tight on my scythe as more Grimm died.

Twisting around, I started running again, swing Crescent Rose in long arcs, the howls of Grimm fading into gurgling death whimpers.

"Ruby!" Weiss's shout cut across the zoned in mindset of combat. Time to leave then. Planting Crescent Rose to the dirt until the chin of an Ursa, I let momentum carry me upwards, before pulling the trigger.

The retort and recoil of the Gravity round sent me flying downwards, followed by an arc of blood. Halfway through my flip, I caught sight of Weiss, hand flashing towards into the center of a truly massive glyph. A wave of ice went rocketing out from her hand, swallowing the Grimm in a mess of awful statues.

As I hit the ground, the Goliath started to step onto the ice sheet. For a moment, there was a pained groan, and I was afraid this wasn't going to work. Then, as it lifted another foot to take a step, the monster's trunk flared up and a panicked trumpet had me covering my ears, watching the gigantic Grimm go crashing to the ground, it's limbs flopping about helplessly. It was kinda funny, watching something that was nothing but years and years of malice and destruction flopping around like a beached fish.

Weiss was panting hard as she came to stand next to me. "Next time, we are finding a different way to do this." She declared. Well, next time, we'd hopefully have Yang and Blake, and I had about five different ideas of how to handle one of those with everyone.

"Ice skating?" I'd probably get yelled at for the question later. The flicker in her expression said that yes, she would give me grief but that was for later. Besides, it wasn't as if we hadn't talked about this idea before. Weiss just thought I was insane.

Twirling her rapier a few more times, she made a gesture, a series of glyphs flashing to life along the length of the new ice field. Each glyph started glowing yellow. Taking her usual stance, rapier glowing blue, Weiss turned her head towards me, and nodded.

It was only a second to plan out how I wanted to do this. The two time's we'd practiced, I'd managed to send myself flying off the ice sheet, and into a wall at high speed. Something about friction, according to my team.

Kicking off, I had to be careful to avoid running wild, even though the amount of force it took to cut a frozen Grimm in half was almost enough to yank Crescent Rose out of my hand. As I neared the edge of the sheet, turning, and firing two shots from Crescent Rose was enough to send me back the other way. As I criss crossed the ice sheet, shattering more and more Grimm Weiss moved at a far more sedate pace, although glowing yellow of her glyphs was getting brighter.

The Goliath was still thrashing about, trying and failing to bring its legs underneath itself. As I cross the field a final time, hitting the last of Weiss's time slowdown glyph thingies, I kicked into the air, firing three times into the Goliath to send myself higher into the air.

Below, Weiss's rapier snapped into her high guard, the blade glowing a brilliant blue.

I thumbed the magazine release for Crescent Rose, letting the empty box fall away as I continued flying upwards.

Weiss shot forwards, rapier extended.

I reached down, pulling a single bullet from its slot on my belt. Pulling the bolt back, I slotted the bullet in, feeling the heavy clunk of the mechanism setting.

I pulled the trigger.

Everything happened to fast to really understand, even with time moving in super slow motion. The Goliath was engulfed in white, before a massive crash, almost as though a bunch of plates broke at the same time.

Then, time returned to normal, and I hit the ground, stumbling a bit, before speeding towards Weiss. As it turned out though, I didn't need to protect her from the Grimm, as they were running away. And then I saw Weiss drop to her knees.

"Weisss!" No answer. Oh no. Had something happened? "Weiss!" I was next to her, trying to ignore the fact my partner looked more pale than she was supposed to. "We killed it!" And it was awesome!

Her smile in reply was a little shaky. "Well, you weren't going to let it squish me, where you?" She made an attempt to stand, and collapsed back to the ground.

"Um…. maybe?" I was way too excited about what just happened to care that maybe I shouldn't be teasing her, not when she looked ready to fall over…actually that was really bad.

"At least it would remove me from the misery of your presence." She grumbled with that same good natured eye roll, before she tried to stand. And once again, failed. Right. That was why this plan wasn't a good one. Weiss was always exhausted after. Not stand exhausted.

Without saying anything, I knelt, pulling one of her arms over my shoulder. She gave me a sharp glare, but accepted the help to stand. "You're paying to clean my dress." All the leftover bits of Grim covering me were seeping into the few unstained bits of her clothing from the close contact.

"Nope." I chirruped, taking a moment to collect myself, and ignore how close I was to Weiss.

There weren't any loud sounds from the direction of the town, so that seemed like a good thing. Well, it was either a good or bad thing, that was hard to say, but I didn't want to think about the bad.

"The others?" Weiss shook me out of rapidly darkening thoughts, more of her weight pressing into my shoulder than before. Folding Crescent Rose, I returned the weapon to my back, feeling confident there wouldn't be any more Grimm.

"I don't hear anything." I shrugged. "So I guess we can find out?" And, before Weiss had much of a chance to object, I twisted, picking her up, and racing off.

"RUBY!"

Oops. Maybe I should have asked permission first?

The area around the building we had been sleeping in resembled something out of the pictures from the last war. Massive craters and spent bullet casings littered the streets; the craters pooling with blood, and corpses interspersed throughout the rest. Some of the bodies were missing limbs, others just sliced in half with uncanny precision. The results were messy, and I had to run away before I felt compelled to puke.

"Dust…" From my side, Weiss gagged at the sight. "So many…"

"About three hundred." My hand flew to Crescent Rose at the words, before realizing it was just Ian. The Huntsman was leaning against a nearby wall, rifle slung in front of him. "Your sister is one scary woman Rose." Um…what had happened? Yang wasn't that scary, most of the time. Just when you made her mad. Or insulted her hair. That was a no no. "I've never seen a head explode into particulate matter before."

"That's disgusting." Deadpan, but accurate. Typical Weiss. I let her drop to the ground, and she swayed, but was able to at least walk under her own power. Inside, I gave a sigh of relief, not wanting to have to deal with the unpleasantness of being mad at myself over Weiss getting hurt for my silly ideas.

"Yes. It was." Ian gave a snort, before jerking his head the way we came. "I'm going to gather based upon explosions, and you two being here, the Grimm have been slowed down enough for us to catch our collective breath."

Weiss was trying, and failing to straighten her skirt. The bloodied fabric however was having none of it. "Ruby, you own me a new dress." Giving another yank, she huffed, and continued. "The Grimm are running away, actually."

A moment of silence followed, as the older warrior tried to process those words. "And what, in all of Creation, might the two of you have done to run off a Goliath." He was glowering, stance and expression hard to read.

I couldn't help but grin. "We killed it." I made a random gesture with my right hand. "and it was _awesome."_ Pausing, I took in his stunned face. "Weiss froze it, and I made it explode!"

For what had to be at least a minute, he just stared, as though unable to understand what he had been told, before slowly beginning to massage his temples. "Remind me to shove something uncomfortable up Ozpin's ass." Giving a small shake, he pushed off the wall. "Probably should let the other two know you're alive. And I guess I owe you an explanation of what those," He waved a hand at the pile of corpses in the street, "are."

"It would be appreciated." Weiss spoke for both of us, especially with the follow up. "As would a shower."

A rumbling laugh was the main reply. Oh. Well darn. "Sorry Weiss." I did feel kinda bad about getting the mess I made in a fight all over her too. It was a pain to get out of my clothes, and even worse to get out of white ones. That might have been the reasons I started wearing black, to hide bloodstains. Might.

"Just come on." Grabbing my hand, she pulled me towards the house. I forced myself to ignore the whirlwind of feelings that resulted.

"Wow sis." Yang met us just inside, shaking her head. "I know red is your color and all, but isn't that overdoing it?"

"We can dispute whether or not Ruby is excessively violent later." Blake stopped the pending disagreement in its tracks. "I'd say we deserve some kind of explanation as to what those…. things, are." Her eyes bored into Ian.

The Huntsman groaned, dropping onto the couch. "Those? Those things are leftovers from the war. Twisted experiments, supposedly discontinued. Least, that's what they'd claim, although all this kinda flies in the face of that."

"From the war." Yang repeated, arms crossing over her chest. "Something that was over and done with eighty years ago." That did sound a little strange.

"Never said it made any sense. But, you ask anyone up in Atlas, government, military, R&D, even ask some of 'em down here in Vale, and they'd claim what we just saw was an accident, a one off fluke, as a result of some of their creations going haywire, things that got away and haven't been caught since then."

Weiss frowned, leaning forwards. "Atlas?" Her expression was skeptical.

"Well, Mantle first." Ian shrugged. "Stupid bastards. I've not been alive long enough to know for sure, but from reading, and listening, somewhere along the way during the war, someone half crazed idiot went 'oh hey, so Grimm are really nasty right? What if we fuse our soldiers with Grimm, so our soldiers get really nasty?'" We all recoiled at the thought. Half Grimm? How was that even possible? "And that is the reaction they should have had. Not sure why someone didn't." He paused. "Or what happened to the sorry bastard who did."

"Why haven't I heard of this?" Weiss was shaking her head. "I would think it would be taught, if the results were that…bad." She made a wave towards the outside of the house.

Rubbing a hand against his knee, Ian sighed. "Like I said, I'm not that old so it's impossible to say for sure what happened, or didn't happy for that matter. According to files, they only made a few of those…things during the war. First test results convinced the brass that, no matter who effective the killing might have been, the results were also just to brutal. Whole bunch of Vale soldiers got ripped apart, then one Mystral contingent." A wry chuckle left him. "Project was supposedly scrapped about two months before it all came to a halt. Least, so far as the public is concerned."

"But?" Blake challenged.

A sad smile crossed his face. "They've been encountered on occasion for years, just a few every now and again out here in the wilds. Enough for those who know about them to be wary, but nothing to challenge the official story we've all be fed." He gave a snort. "The fact that those of us who have fought them tend of react with extreme overkill, makes it hard to figure much else out, never mind challenge Atlas's narrative about it. Nobody has ever managed enough evidence to challenge Ironwood on the subject, so I suspect that he's clueless."

"So what was that then?" Yang gave a derisive snort. "Because that sure wasn't an accident." She leaned against the table.

"Right in one." The Huntsman nodded. Been asking that question for years now, ever since first time I had such a run in with those things. Haven't had any luck though. Atlas keeps their stupid mouth shut tight, telling me it 'doesn't concern me' or stupid crap." Pushing himself to his feet again, the man began pacing. "No one is going to get answers, unless you have proof beyond all reason that Atlas is responsible. Slippery fuckers won't take it laying down if you do regardless."

"And what makes you so sure this is Atlas?" I asked, eyes locked to Weiss's shaking form, gripping her rapier. It was hard to see, but every part of her was coiled like a spring.

He waved a hand, continuing to pace. "Because Mantle, not Atlas, and Vale were the only Kingdoms to try. Vale, and I understand, tried to make flying people. Not pretty. Atlas created those wolf monstrosities we just killed." A pause. "That, and there is an exceptionally high tech Atlas safe crammed in that corner, which would such that Atlas has its grubby little paws on whatever happened here." His tone had lost any sense of lighthearted annoyance that he usually carried, becoming stony. "Unless she," he nodded towards Blake, "Can pop that safe, not sure it matters much."

"I'll start on it again." Blake gave a sharp nod, her face set with its usual stoicism.

"Guess I'll take watch. Get some reason, and whatever else. We'll be here at least another night, unless something changes." He paused, giving Weiss and I a stare. "And try and get some of that gunk washed off."

Without another word, he turned, striding up the stairs, and out of the room. We watched him go, before Blake headed towards the safe.

"Is there a shower somewhere? Or at least running water?" Weiss broke the silence. "As is usual, Ruby knows no concept of restraint, and apparently found it impossible to wait long enough for me to walk."

"Hey!" She might have had a point, but I was going to object to that regardless.

"Afraid not." Yang's eyes twinkled with amusement at out little banter. "We haven't had any luck finding a source just yet. More than welcome to go looking though."

"It would be nice." Weiss nodded, while I shrugged.

"I need to clean Crescent Rose." That much at least needs to happen at once, before blood dried in the mechanism. "And probably try and get some of the stains out of my cloths."

"Wish you luck with that." Yang declared with a half grin, and a two fingered salute, before she turned, and slipped into the other room after Blake.

It was about half an hour of work to find a stream in the woods, and another ten to drag the water back enough to try and use it for anything. Then, however, we spent two more hours trying to get the gunk off Crescent Rose. Weiss had managed to wash more of the blood off of her dress, but the fabric was still stained lightly pink in its entirety.

I was in the process of pulling about the firing chamber of my weapon, to make sure it was still clean, when Blake stuck her head into the room.

"I think I've got it." Her expression suggested the results of her work weren't exactly good however.

"Oh!" I left Crescent Rose sitting on the table, and rushed to follow her. Yang was already there, her face drained of much color. Weiss followed me, stepped heaving than normal. In the corner, the safe lay open.

"No!" The denial came from Weiss, as she bolted across the room, pulling some of the contents of the safe out.

"Err…Weiss?" I leaned over her shoulder, before realizing what was up. "Oh…"

The safe was filled with a few vials of dust, some syringes, and several notebooks. Most of that didn't seem very interesting, until I saw the front of the notebook in Weiss hand.

There, on the worn leather, was the Symbol of the Schnee Dust Company.

"Oh…" Gulp. "Oh…that's bad…."

* * *

 **A/N: Righto. Congratulations on living this far! As you've probably noticed, this is more than likely going to earn that M rating in the violence department. The way I see it, Grimm might not have souls, but they're still gonna bleed, with all the messy results of that. I have more to say….but plans. And spoilers. Oh, and I'm gonna go ahead and be on record as calling this an AU, because I'm world building and crap. Feel free to PM me, or leave a review with questions/suggestions/feedback, etc. It is all appreciated, and I love talking about this stuff, probably more than I should.**

 **That does however beg the question. What do you prefer? Massive chapters or shorter chapters? Either or works for me, but I do understand the super-sized chapters can be a bit intimidating to read, or just more time consuming in general. Of the upcoming parts I have written, I believe they can be split into smaller chunks without too much difficulty, so it isn't a major problem for me to do.**

 **If no one minds longer chapters, I will probably stick to this method, as it is how I am writing it. Current plan is for Friday updates, and for those following my Fire Emblem story, to do Wednesday updates for that. At least, that's what I'm putting on my calendar. That might get changed to every two weeks for this thing, because well, these chapters are kinda massive, and while I can write them in a day or two, editing takes forever.**

 **On an unrelated note, now that I've gone and promised chapters on time, Aura of Twilight (or whatever she goes by here, I realized it might now be that, just what I know her as everywhere) has permission to yell at me about not editing and posting.**

 **Obviously nothing of the source material is mine. Sadness.**


	2. Chapter 2: Demons

**Chapter Two: Demons**

 **Ruby**

"Fantastic." The Huntsman glared into the open safe, his eyes getting narrower and narrower. "No note…nothing records. Just some Dust and syringes…" The smile on his face didn't seem very happy. "I'm sure some poor RnD bastard will love this."

Over his head, I caught the eyes of my teammates, unable to help feeling guilty. We'd hidden the notebooks that had been in the safe, none of us even thinking twice about it in the wake of Weiss's terror at the sight of them. Even Blake hadn't hesitated to agree with hiding them away. So, they were now shoved in the bottom of my bag. I probably should have felt guilty about hiding something so obviously important away from someone who cared about it a lot, but Weiss probably could figure it out, or we'd…figure it out somehow.

"So, what now? Blake spoke up into a heavy silence. "We just sit here and wait?" There was a chafing in her voice, the only way I could tell she didn't like that option. Despite how calm she appeared, Blake hated to sit about doing nothing. Especially if she thinks that doing nothing is letting someone bad run free. (Torchwick?).

Ian swept the contents of the safe into a bag, before pushing himself upright, joints popping painfully. "Now?" His lips curled into an angry snarl, the same sort of expression I'd seen on plenty of people before. "We get back to Vale. Tell your stubborn ass of a Headmaster this went sideways." He paused, seeming to have more to say about that, and then considering again. "Collect information. Make some calls back to Atlas. Yell at the bastards. See what can be drudged up. And," A steely cold settled into his gaze, his fingers moving to the grip of his rifle, "We put the bastard who did this six feet in the fucking ground." I was aware, suddenly, of just how much older he was than us. And wow. He was swearing a lot. Probably a good thing he was a Huntsman, or Yang would _so_ mad.

The low chirp and ringing of a Scroll stopped any of us from replying. We all turned to Ian, since it was the default ringtone, and all of ours had been changed the first week of school (it got way to confusing). Pulling the device from one of his many pockets, Ian thumbed the answer button, revealing Professor Ozpin.

Even for Professor Ozpin, he seemed worried. I was pretty sure there were more lines than normal around his eyes. I also couldn't see his kinda trademark coffee cup. Did that mean he was super serious?

"Ian. How-" Before the sentence could be finished, the Huntsman cut him off.

"Sideways." Whoa. He could do the same angry without sounding angry thing Weiss could? Maybe he could teach me? Because that seems really cool. And maybe scary. "Now. What do you want?" Yup. Angry without sounding angry.

"I…I see." Professor Ozpin shook his head, looking bothered by that news. "Is everyone unharmed?"

"We're fine!" I waved as best I could over Ian's shoulder. Professor Ozpin's eyes snapped to the blood coating my outfit, before gave another long sigh, and pulling his coffee into view for a long drink.

"That is good." His expression remained super worried. "I imagine you will be returning to Beacon shortly then?" Ian gave a sharp nod, head tilting to the side, as though figuring out a puzzle. The motion reminded me of Blake, when something confused her. "I need you to make a minor detour on your return."

"Of course you do." An eye-roll. "What do you need now Ozpin?" I wasn't completely sure, but he didn't seem happy about that.

"Just a few files, nothing dangerous, I assure you." That old man smiled, the same one Ozpin gave me, before offering me a spot at Beacon. In a way, it was kinda a creepy smile. "It shouldn't be difficult for you; I assume?" From the corner of my eye, Weiss flinched just a bit. I wonder why?

There was a silence, the two men staring each other down for a long time. "Do me a favor, and fuck yourself." And, with that vulgar remark, Ian snapped his Scroll shut.

"That was rather rude." Weiss pointed out what seemed kinda obvious, a hand on her hips. She wasn't really angry, just confused as to what his problem was, at least I thought so.

Ian gave a grunt, jamming his Scroll back into the pocket of his jeans. "No matter where I go, there is always someone like him. He's just better at hiding it than the rest of them."

Um…what? Better at hiding what? And was something about Professor Ozpin bad? And what was it that Ian was supposed to retrieve? And did he just refuse the mission? That entire conversation confused me.

"I'm afraid that makes absolutely _no_ sense." Thanks Weiss. It felt good to know I wasn't the only one who was confused.

"I'm going to consider it a good thing that you have yet to experience the wonders of life." Okay… sarcasm: Check. "Everyone has an agenda. Keep that in mind when it comes time for you four to swear your allegiance to someone."

I think he needs a hug. Or something. I'll leave that to Yang though. She's better at hugs than me.

"It'll be a bit before our ride gets here, so as you were I guess." He snorted. "Ozpin will send me whatever this side job is shortly I'm sure." And with that, he stalked back out of the room, fists clenched at his side.

 _ **-Petals Scatter-**_

Once again, I kept watch on the flight while everyone else slept. Not without getting a disappointed glare from Weiss before she collapsed to sleep though. We didn't talk much this time though, Ian lost in some thoughts, and me…well, there was just so much to think about.

Those…things…monsters? I wasn't even sure what to call them. The looked kinda like Werewolves, from fairy tales, but that didn't seem like a good term. Either way, they were…well they were people once. Or at least, they sure looked like they had.

Even though we didn't talk about it much, we'd killed people, in that tunnel. White Fang members, even it just by leaving them to get eaten by the Grimm. It was something each of us tried to ignore in our own way. Sometimes thought, that didn't work to well. And now…after that. There was no pretending that we hadn't killed people. I'd shot one right through the chest. I'd see his…his…organs…. everywhere. And the ones… My stomach twisted at the thought. Was this part of what life as a Huntress was? Ian said that those…things, weren't supposed to be very common but…

We trained to fight Grimm, not people. Dealing with criminals and stuff was the job of police and soldiers. But what about…those things? They were kinda both?

 _You killed them._ And that's where my thoughts kept swirling back too. I killed them. _They were right._ No. I didn't have a choice. I had to protect my team. _Doesn't make them wrong._ It was such a mean thought, sneaking back in no matter how hard I tried to get rid of it. It was easy to think about killing Grimm. They were monsters, soulless killing machines. But…people?

Someone behind me groaned, and I turned in time to see Yang rolling upright, her joints popping and snapping. Her bleariness lasted only a moment before full alertness snapped into her eyes. She was always like that, waking up right away. I opened my mouth to ask what woke her up, before deciding not too.

For a time, we rode in silence, three people just lost in their own thoughts. In an effort to distract myself from more morbid thoughts, I shifted my focus to how on earth Ian could have managed to make his rifle use rounds with double the propellant, and what sort of Dust mix might be involved. After a time, Weiss sat up, her knees pulled up against her chest, the lower half of her face hidden from view, unshed tears pooling at the corner of her eyes. They were hard to see, but practice told me they were there.

That at least was an expression I could figure out, if only a little bit. Weiss didn't cry, at least, not when she thought we might see it. I'd only seen her with tears in her eyes a couple times, late at night. After she'd told us a bit about her Father was the first time. And what had convinced me that, I didn't want to meet him. He sounded like a jerk. And probably was why Weiss didn't let other people see her cry.

Blake was the last to roll back awake, going from sleep to alert in an instant.

"Ruby!" Yang's excited shout made my darkening thoughts run, and I turned, opening my mouth to ask the obvious question. "There's Signal." Wait, really!? Moving to the window, I couldn't help gasping a bit. Beneath us, the sloped rooves and brick walls of our old school loomed, the major landmark on the island. What were we doing _here?_

It was kinda weird to see it now. I'd thought Signal was kinda intimidating when I'd first joined, but now….it just seemed like any old building. Beacon was way bigger, and just…it was hard to describe really. At least I'd get to see some of my old friends for a little bit. A spike of guilt hit me. I hadn't done a very good job of keeping up with them…everything just kept happening, and there was never really time.

"This is where you grew up?" Weiss joined Yang and I, with Blake following behind. Confusion and skepticism filled her tone, although why, and of what I didn't know.

"Well, our house is…." I had to take a minute to figure out what direction we'd come from. "Out there," I pointed out into the woods, where I would have thought there'd be smoke rising from the chimney, "But yup!" From the air, Patch always seemed so tiny. If I had Crescent Rose out, I would have been able to see the far side of the island from the air.

"I wonder what Ozpin want's Ian to retrieve out here." Yang mused. "He could probably just ask Dad or Uncle Qrow to bring it into Beacon." Maybe. But we hadn't talked to Uncle Qrow in a while, so it was hard to say where he was. But Dad was home, since he'd had us send Zwei back home (not in a tube this time, Weiss had been insistent on that, going so far as to declare that she'd spend her own money to make sure it didn't happen). I think she just didn't want to let him leave.

The Bullhead started it's slow and steady landing, on the only large landing pad in the area. Which just so happened to be Signal. And it was break time between classes. That meant some of _them_ would be around. And we'd no doubt run into…oh no.

 _They'll get to see just how right they were._ The thought slipped out before I killed it. Violently squashed it. They weren't right. I knew they weren't. I'd put all that stuff behind me years ago.

Refocusing on the world outside, I found myself meeting a concerned gaze from Blake, before Ian's grousing cut the conversation off.

"Well, this is just gonna be a joy." His rifle was slung over his shoulder, and not so he could grab it easy though. More of a resting position. "Guessing there is someplace on this Dust forsaken rock that we can restock on Dust and bullets?" Was he expecting some kind of trouble? I thought we were here for files or something? The Bullhead hit the ground with a clank.

"Of course." Yang snorted, sending me a fond glare, the dregs of an old argument between us restored. "The school has an armory, and there's a shop somewhere in town."

The grunt in response might have been approving, as we stepped onto the landing pad. "I guess take the time to restock, and relax, while I go deal with all of the stupidity this will involve." He paused. "I'm hoping it won't take more than a few hours, but knowing my luck, it won't be that easy."

Whoever replied, I didn't notice, too caught up in the events around us. The surprise at our arrival was quickly being replaced with recognition in the actions of the students at the edges of the platform. The whispers were starting already, the pointing fingers. It wasn't just the fact that four random girls had showed up in a Beacon aircraft, coated in dried blood and bearing weapons.

Those fingers pointed at me.

"I'm going to go replace this." I tapped the empty slot on my belt. I'd need to make a few spares as well. I was slowly running out of my stockpile of those bullets, and I didn't have the stuff at Beacon to make them. At least, not quickly, since I'd have to convince a professor to let me into the weapons lab.

"Catch you in a few?" Yang didn't seem to notice the stares, or at least, not the ones at me. I couldn't blame her that much. She'd mostly avoided them. "I'll show these two around while you get that done?" Trying to grin, she thought she was being helpful, keeping people out of my hair while I worked, I nodded, setting off towards the 'armory' that Signal maintained. It was all memory, the path to it. Dad and Uncle Qrow taught here, so I'd been in the school for a long time, and kinda memorized most of it.

The walls inside were just as bland out outside, just a few, fading pictures, and almost peeling paint. It was something about humidity and the salt air…I _might_ have fallen asleep in that class at one point. Might. I denied everything when Yang asked me.

The students though…I could still remember most of them. And the ball of tension in my stomach was only getting worse as they backed away from me, eyes widening further, more whispers now. Not that those were new. When hadn't they whispered?

But, a semester at Beacon, away from the whispers, and rumors, where I, at least a bit, fit in, had left me super unprepared for what went on around me. Whispers, pointed fingers, the looks of fear, and surprise. The tightness in my chest was getting worse too.

"Well well well!" Oh no. Please not him? This just wasn't fair… "Look what the cat dragged in!" He was the last person I'd wanted to meet here… especially now. "Finally gracing us with your presence little flower? Or did they find out you're just a- "

My heart was hammering, and it was way too much effort to turn, and be calm. Not to panic. "Hello Jordan." A few of the crowd that was already gathering flinched back. Oops. Maybe I sounded a little upset.

Jordan wasn't anything remarkable, short brown hair and blue eyes, only a few inches taller than me, and not much else to him. He'd come to Signal during my last semester, and had immediately not liked me. The feeling was kinda shared though. He was a jerk. Not quite Cardin level of jerk, but a jerk. And thought calling me that name was cute. For a moment, I recalled that Torchwick liked calling me 'Little Red' and that didn't help.

The whispering crowd was getting worse, not enough I could tell the words, but… it was there.

"Why so cold?" He had that same smile as Cardin too, insufferably smug, and I kinda wanted to punch him in the nose. Even though I knew that wasn't a good idea. Maybe Yang could punch him in the nose for me?

"I have things to do." More whispers. I heard the words 'angry', 'blood', 'killed'. My stomach twisted. No. Not this again.

Where Jordan had been smiling a moment ago, his expression twisted in a sneer. I tensed. That sneer never meant good things. "Like find a shower?" The glinting in his eyes was nasty. He wouldn't… "I always knew you were violent little flower, but isn't walking around covering a blood just a bit…much?"

Had Weiss made the same remark, I might have laughed, and tried to say something witty back. But if it was Weiss, she'd be joking. Or even Yang or Blake. He wasn't. More whispering, wide eyes, backing away from everyone around me. An old feeling flared in my chest, white hot. Before I could stop them, words spilled out. "Unlike you, I intend to be a Huntress. And if that means I get covered in blood from fighting…" A little shrug. And I got control of that searing in my chest, pushing in down, away, where it belonged. I was better than that.

Everyone was whispering now, eyes wide, and I knew the emotion that was there. It was fear. Fear of _me._

 _Don't worry about them._ Old words, I'd forgotten who told me first, rang in my ears. _The ones who turn their backs from fear? They were never your friends to begin with._ It had helped, at least when I was younger, to think about that. But now, seeing the faces of people I knew, some of them were supposed to be my friends, flared with that fear…

The unspoken question, echoing up and down the hall in whispers, as more and more eyes took in the blood on my clothes, " _who did she kill?", "Why is she covered in blood?",_ followed by the most painful whisper, not even really a whisper at all, from someone behind Jordan.

" _She's the one I warned you about? The girl who kills things and smiles?"_ My eyes locked to the speaker, I didn't know his name. I didn't know anything about him. But as our eyes met, he cowered back, the terror plain as day before me.

Somewhere in the back of my head, I heard someone say something to me, the words failing to register against the mounting emotions.

Killer. Monster. Other worse names. They swirled around, back and forth, in memories, and my thoughts, dredged up from the whispers, when kids though I couldn't hear them. The screams too. And those same eyes. The fear.

"Don't ignore me!" And a fist was coming towards the side of my head.

I moved. No thought went into the movement, just the same raw instincts that earlier this week had kept me alive fighting Grimm. Crescent Rose was in my hand, the heft of the scythe meaning nothing. Two steps, one full twirl to expand it out. A second twirl, extend, pull-

Inches from his neck, I caught the swing, arm shaking as I fought against the little voice screaming in my head, the danger instincts, Weiss called it. Yang said it was just experience. Whatever it was, I stood, the razor edge of my weapon inches from Jordan's throat, shaking from the tension in my arms.

His eyes now, had that fear too. Wide, darting left and right, the understanding that I had almost _killed_ him sinking in over the course of several seconds.

What…why… I hadn't wanted to kill him, had I? why did I… Oh Dust…

My heartbeat was getting faster, my breathing too. The shaking in my arm was faster, my scythe a lead weight. It took every bit of concentration I had left to remember the way to place of my thumb over the folding mechanism to fold it, as I stepped away from Jordan.

And then I was running. People blurred, my Semblance. I wasn't even aware of where, just running.

I tumbled into the workshop, an explosions of rose petals, _blood red_ rose petals came flying in after me.

My chest was heaving, and the world spun. I was kneeling, staring down at my hands, the settling petals left behind by my Semblance. One of them landed in my palm, and I swore I saw the corners start to melt, running down my forearm. My eyes fluttered, tears threatening to fall, before it was gone, just a trick.

"Don't…" in between breaths I forced the words out. "Don't…don't think… about that…right now." This wasn't the time. I could sort my feelings out later, I had to…I had to keep myself together. For the others. My team needed me, and I couldn't be coming apart the seams right now.

Blood. Grimm flying in pieces around me. My Team needs me. The…thing, leaping over the wall. Crescent Rose firing. His chest- My team needs me. Blood. Organs flying against the – My Team needs me. A robot, falling from the side of a speeding train, fire- My. Team. Needs. Me. Screaming. People running.

My. Team. Needs. Me.

Slowly, my breathing began to even out. It was another minute before my heart slowed down, and I could stand, shaking only a little bit. The whispers ( _Killer)_ pushed at the edges, but I clung to that thought, ( _My team needs me)_ until they faded back, just a little.

I…right. Bullets. I need bullets. ( _To kill)._ For Yang, Blake and Ian too. I frowned, realizing I didn't know what kind of bullet's Gambol Shroud used ( _You want to make her like you)_

. Oh well. I could ask in a bit; Yang would bring them around here.

Having long since memorized the layout of the workshop, and _maybe_ having convinced Uncle Qrow to give the entry codes for the locked cabinets one day, it didn't take long to get everything I needed.

My giggle was bordering on hysterical, as I thought about it. The teachers here had a fit the first time they found me in here, mixing Dust together in small amounts, packing the propellant into bullets. They had even more of a fit, when they dragged Dad in, and all he did was yell at me about not wearing safety gear.

I think they expected me to get in trouble… I should have gotten in trouble probably. But Dad I think, had figured out that I was going too, and he wasn't going to stop me. He'd given up on stopping Yang and I from doing some stuff, but we weren't allowed near other stuff. It was kinda silly really. And annoying. But bullets. Think about bullets. Not other stuff.

Making bullets was easy, at least normal ones, without any special Dust. You just had to be really, really careful, especially with the Dust propellant. Which Yang wasn't. So, I learned how to be. And…maybe had a few burns to show for it. At first, I wasn't very good, but occasionally lots of practice made perfect, and if I was going to make myself the perfect weapon, I was going to make myself the perfect bullets for it too.

Like the one I was working on now. The mixture of Dust in the tip of the bullet was...super complicated, and I had no clue how any of it worked, on a technical level. Maybe I could ask Weiss? She was good at this stuff. But however it worked, it was awesome.

A few extra grains of Fire Dust, and my thoughts drifted again, the rest of the process was super easy. I could probably do it asleep, or whatever that saying was.

Dad. When he'd figured out I was the one making Yang her bullets, my sister having made her weapon two full years before me, he was so mad. He was more of his normal self then, not so…broken as he had been, and sometimes reminders that we were in danger would result in him returning to that state. Or just getting super upset. It was even worse when I told him that Yang said it was cheaper for us to make them, especially the Fire based rounds she loved so much, instead of buying them wholesale. I think that was what upset him most, although I don't really know why. he'd given up on stopping me though.

"Ruby!" I was in the process of inspecting the fit of the bullet into its casing, when the door creaked, and someone gave an excited squeal. "You're back!" and my vision was filled with silver blonde hair. My chest tightened, my breathing quickened in a moment of panic, all my thoughts rushing back.

"Hi Sapphire." I had to take a step back for a little bit of space ( _Stay away from her_ ). She was a bit shorter than I remembered.

"You're back!" More squealing filled the air. "You're at Beacon! What's it like! How'd you get in?! Meet anyone cool?" The words came flying at me all in a rush.

"Sapphire!" Inside I had to compare the manic stream of words to Nora. At least Sapphire made some sense. Nora sometimes…nope. I think only Ren could understand her ramblings. Jaune told me once he'd given up, after listening for ten minutes to Pyrrha and Nora talk, and upon asking Pyrrha what they'd talked about, the red haired girl confessed she didn't have the faintest idea. And Pyrrha was like, super smart. If she couldn't get it, I was doomed.

"Sorry." She wasn't sorry, at all. She never was. At least somethings didn't change, I thought as a smile formed. Maybe I could stop being grumpy for a while. And maybe get rid of the annoying thoughts too. Sapphire had that effect on people. "But? You haven't been writing, you jerk!" Hands planted on her hips, she tried to look intimidating, which didn't really work when I was taller than she was, and had Weiss for a partner. The Schnee heiress was way better at that stare than Sapphire was.

"Sorry. Things have been super busy. We've been going on lots of missions lately too." More than busy really. But that wasn't important. I wasn't thinking about that. Nope. Not at all.

"You sent one letter at the start of the year!" Nope. Still not very scary.

"I said it was busy!" A flimsy defense, for sure, but it was a defense. "Besides, I'm here now right?" That made her nod, hair flying about.

"So what's Beacon like?" She leaned against my workbench, grinning ear to ear, no doubt expecting some cool stories.

"It's…well it's school." I gave a shrug, trying to find a good description that didn't involve thinking much. "Most of the professors are super boring," My thoughts drifted to Professor Oobleck, his usual coffee thermos turned into a weapon. "And kinda weird."

Sapphire pouted, and I turned away from her, setting to work measure out Dust to make more shells for Yang. They'd take the longest. "All you have to say is the Professors are weird? Your Uncle is weird." No, he was awesome. "Your dad is weird."

"Hey!"

"Yang is weird." I could feel the stare into the back of my head. "You, Ruby Rose, are weird. So saying people are weird doesn't count!" No doubt the final exclamation was carried by a hand gesture. I might, or might not, have picked up my hand gestures from Sapphire, not that I'd tell her that. Her ego was worse than Weiss's when we first met.

"One of them is literally so high on coffee he talks a mile a minute." Probably faster. I tapped dust into an empty shell, fitting the top on.

"Still not that weird." She paused. "Wait wait wait! You said you're doing missions!"

Could we not talk about this? "Yup." My tone was more subdued, and I could hear it. Sapphire, missed that however.

"What are they like? Have you done anything cool? Oh, I bet you killed lots of Grimm! Is that why you're all bloody again? Oh, did you save a village?" Darn it Sapphire, must you do this? ( _Tell her. Tell her what you are.)_ And those thoughts rushed back, as the image of a field of corpses, of blood, and organs, hit me.

"Saph." I didn't need to think twice to know who that was. Alec Topaz was perhaps my oldest friend at Signal. Brown skin, his hair a dirty blonde that clashed terribly with Sapphire's silvered blonde, topped off with a lazy smirk.

"But-" Sapphire tried to speak, only for Alec to glare, at least I thought so, shutting her up. How he did it, I'd never know.

"We have class in ten minutes Sapphire, and I'm not covering your ass for being late. Again." She still was late everywhere? Wow…. "And I thought the rule was 'don't bother Ruby when she's working'?" Hey! That's right!

Sapphire blushed. "But we haven't seen her! and she hasn't written!" I was still in trouble over that?

Alec rolled his eyes, making a lazy gesture. "And since when is Ruby being socially up to date likely? I'm going to imagine she was busy with schoolwork, and whatever else they have Beacon student's doing." I gave him a nod, and a small smile. He was always the serious one in the little group.

"You could have sent a text saying it was a party Sis." Yang led the others into the room with her usual lack of well…whatever that word Weiss used was. Blake seemed strangely jumpy, her gaze sweeping back and forth before relaxing. Weiss however…oh boy.

Weiss was…Weiss was angry. No, she was more than angry. Her shoulders were set back, head held high, lips set into a cold line, and her hands were folded behind her back. And where her eyes had been teared up on the flight here, they were now just blank.

"Yang." Alec gave my sister a short nod, his face shifting into a thinking pose. "I'm going to gather then, that Beacon isn't on vacation."

"Classified!" I chirped, giving him an innocent smile when he stared me in disbelief. We weren't doing anything classified, but it was fun messing with him.

"Of course it is." He sighed, knowing that I wouldn't budge. The benefits of old friends. "I assume the identifies of your teammates are not classified." He swept a look over Blake and Weiss, who matched his stare with her own frosty one.

"Blake." A very Blake introduction.

"Weiss." One of Alec's eyebrows hit his hairline, before returning to normal. Probably he figured out her last night.

Sapphire bounced forward, but seemed to realize that none of them wanted any kind of physical contact, and stopped, waving happily. "Sapphire Waters."

"Alec." He gave a grunt. "Guessing you have enough to worry about, for whatever you mission is." Grabbing the protesting Sapphire by the arm, he dragged her to the door. "Stay safe." It was the closest to worry he would get. And they were gone.

I turned back to making bullets, each motion memorized when I was only just starting as a student here, and by this point, just memory. The soft clicks and clacks of my tools were loud in the quiet.

A look up from my work, and I took in the expressions of my team. Yang was…frustrated. Angry too. But frustrated. And tired.

Blake…She was really angry, now that I looked closer. Not quite as angry as Weiss was, but she wasn't happy. Her bow was even twitching just a bit.

And well, Weiss was Ice Queen all the sudden.

"Um…guys?" Please…please let them not have heard the whispers?

"Just the same stupid kids as ever." Oh. They had. Or, Yang had. And so would Blake, Faunus hearing. And Weiss was…oh. Oh. Why me?

"And that changes things how!" Despite her seeming calm, Weiss radiated fury. "How does that make a thing they said better? How does that make them less awful?" Ice Queen Weiss was always scary, because no matter how angry she got, she didn't sound angry. Like now.

Yang shrugged, helplessly glancing towards me. Apparently my face didn't reassure her, the light darkening in her eyes. "They've said that crap for years. It'd be worse if the forest was especially infested, but it's the same sort of crap." It was an attempt to placate Weiss, and from her face, it didn't work.

More silence, uncomfortable silence, Blake's fist clenched, and Weiss's quiet rage.

Oh right. "Blake? Gambol Shroud uses 9mm rounds right?" Although the request obviously confused her, she nodded. "Yang, anything special?"

"Nope. Just the usual." I rolled my eyes, she sounded like she was ordering a drink, not bullets. "You realize we can- "I glared. "Right right. Turning to our teammates, she gave a small grin. "You guys want anything special while Ruby is geeking out on guns?" Hey! I was not…okay maybe I was.

"No thank you." Weiss shook her head. I nodded, focusing back on the work.

Having satisfied myself with the quality of the bullets, I pushed the completed rounds to the side, and went to work, mixing Dust together for some of the rarer kinds of bullets. I did need to make myself more Gravity shots. And a bunch of different ones for Blake, since she used all kinds with her Semblance.

"Ruby?" It was several minutes, and I was vaguely aware of Blake and Yang slipping out of the room before Weiss spoke up. I paused, looking up.

"Yup?" Her expression was filled with confusion, looking between me, the various Dust's arrayed before me, and the tools I was working with.

"You normally couldn't explain to me the first thing about Dust." Her head shook, no doubt remembering the times she tried to help me study. "But, you're sitting here, making bullets, and mixing Dust, as though you've been doing it for years?"

"I'm a weapons nerd Weiss." Anyone who wanted to make the best from their weapons knew you had to make your own bullets. And the home made ones were just way better than the store bought kind. _Way better._ My partner sighed, as though I said something ridiculous.

"It takes people years of student to learn about safely combine Dust for use in weaponry." Really? Oh. I guess I never thought about how long I'd been practicing, but it had been a long time. And those first few times were bad. "And we use machines to make bullets, to prevent accidents." Well that explains why store bought one sucked. "Do you even understand just how dangerous." Her hand waved towards my work, "that is?"

"Oh course!" Putting down the jar I'd been measuring out of, I shrugged. "You do something wrong and things explode." Another story I hoped she never heard. Especially because Weiss would probably consider the stories of my first tries at making bullets to be justification for never letting me near raw Dust again. She already never let me do anything in our Dust Chemistry class…which wasn't my fault. Nope. Not my fault.

"Well…" There was a pause, as though she was chewing on the words. "At least you understand the safety risks." There was a pause. "That doesn't explain why you can't follow simply instructions for mixing things however."

This time it was my turn to roll my eyes. "Because their instructions are _wrong._ " Or, at least I could do it better. "I can do most of the stuff they want us to do better Weiss."

Affront flashed across her face. "Those formulas are sloppy." I drove our Professor crazy, because I refused to pay attention to the things in our textbook. My formulas were better. Most of them were cheaper as well. "And mine are cheaper." Pausing, I grabbed few tubes, and one of the hollowed out rounds that Crescent Rose used. "Gravity Dust for example. The way they taught us to do it at Beacon uses twice as much Dust as you actually need, and doesn't create nearly as much force as these." I paused. "Of course, if you mix it wrong, you get this really cool explosion as a bonus." Well, sort of. Learning to use my Semblance had been a must for handling that.

Weiss just goggled in my explanation. It was rare that I was the one to utterly confuse her, and I couldn't help but giggle. Face was priceless…pity I didn't have a camera handy.

"I…I don't get it!" In a very, not Weiss thing to do, her arms waved about. "You're just casually sitting here, telling me that people who have been doing these things for years are _wrong?"_ Yes? "the Schnee Dust Company has entire training programs devoted to what you're doing Ruby!"

I stopped working, leaning against the worktable. "I've been figuring out how to do this stuff since I was…10?" I frowned. Whenever it was that Yang tried it, and almost blew her hand off. "Whenever Yang started school."

 _ **-Petals Scatter-**_

 **Blake**

It was strange, being in the place that Ruby and Yang had grown up. Everything smelled of salt, and forests, and there was even more confidence in Yang's movement than normal.

It was an effort to keep my ears from twitching, watching the few students still in the halls whispering to themselves. The whispers were things I was used to, being a Faunus meant that wherever I went, such thing were commonplace. The insults and sneers, whispers when they thought I couldn't hear. At least before I started hiding my ears. Humans could be really stupid about something things, but I wasn't about to let that stop me.

But, none of these whispers were about me. Or even about the very short list of Faunus I saw. No, these whispers were about my teammates. Mostly about Ruby, although a few would cast frightened glances in Yang's direction as my partner passed by. And those who knew Weiss's face, but she was always quickly forgotten in favor of Ruby or Yang.

It wasn't as though I was surprised by people muttering about Ruby and Yang. Ruby's age, and distinctive fighting style meant that she did tend to get a lot of whispers when people thought we weren't listening. Yang's presence just drew attention from people, so it wasn't a surprise. Until I listened in closer.

Whereas at Beacon, the whispers about Yang were either people who didn't want to fight her, or found her attractive/someone to respect, and those whispering about Ruby were commenting on her age, how cheerful she was, and how terrifying her scythe could be, these whispers were different.

"Hey Yang." We'd ended up on a balcony, overlooking the ocean, Yang leaning against the railing, her expression unusually guarded. At my words, her head jerked to me.

"Yeah?" Even her voice was more subdued than normal.

"Why…" How could I even ask this question? Maybe bluntness was the best option. "Why is everyone whispering about Ruby being some kind of monster?"

Yang gave a snort, shaking her head. "It's kids being stupid." Her gaze dropped head shaking. "We've all got some secrets Blake… I guess it's always been figured that we'd put it behind us coming to Beacon."

A tinge of guilt flashed through me. Secrets. That's what it all was, wasn't it? Secrets? I had mine. Weiss seemed to have hers, for sure, although I'd never had it in me to ask. I wasn't sure I wanted to know. It was kind of a Team RWBY unwritten rule, our history was our own, and we didn't talk about it. Even after the finding out I was part of the White Fang, they hadn't pushed for more information than I gave them. It was…comforting in its own way.

While Weiss's family was in the public eye, and thus, easy to find information on, I had figured out almost nothing about Ruby and Yang. Well, almost nothing. Ruby woke up some nights crying, and would disappear to somewhere else for hours at a time. Yang never woke up crying, but there were days were she didn't' sleep.

Ruby's dislike of crowds was something that had been commented on once, but, I'd thought it was just a sort of odd personality trait for such an outgoing girl to have. Then again, she was jumpy around people sometimes. But I'd never considered the Ruby and her sister had some kind of secrets, or history they'd want to forget.

"Anything you want to talk about?" It was the least I could do. Yang had been around for times when I was stupid, and absorbed in stuff, it seemed appropriate to return the favor.

"What's there to talk about?" That seemed like a bit of an un-Yang statement. "Just a bunch of stupid kids who don't get it." My eyes narrowed, just a bit. "They've been saying that sort of crap ever since Ruby started here."

"They've been claiming she's some kind of psychotic killer since she was twelve!?" and people said Faunus were horrible monsters?

Yang shook her head, hair bobbing around. There was a part of me that wanted to swat at it, which was ignored. "Not quite. It started after she finished Crescent Rose…" Yang's voice trailed off.

After… There was something I was missing here, although I had no idea what it was. Yang had mentioned that when Ruby's mom died, their dad had an emotional breakdown, which implied that she and Ruby learned to take care of themselves, but that didn't explain any of this. And Ruby was way to cheerful to be like some of the people I met in the White Fang. Killers, pretending to be normal. And Ruby was not like that as all.

"Ruby and I had to learn to take care of ourselves when Mom died." Yang started speaking without any warning, unusually melancholy. "Even when he was…there, we had to help a lot more around the house and… take care of ourselves." Her lips curled into a sad smile. "And he'd go out on missions, so we had to take care of ourselves if Qrow wasn't around."

"I don't see how…" this all made sense, but didn't explain the whispers.

"Our house was out in the woods…that way." Yang pointed towards the forest in the distance. "Which was fine, when Dad taught here, and Mom was out doing missions. Not very many Grimm out there, but there's enough that we had to be careful coming into town on occasion." Oh. "So when Mom died…and Dad had to do missions from time to time, to pay the bills, we'd be alone. Dad and Uncle Qrow had taught us how to fight, and unlocked our Aura's, something that most of the kids at the time didn't have. So, when Ruby and I started school, we were a few steps ahead of the rest of the crowd, and had half a clue how to fight better."

So they reacted out of fear. It was strange to see someone as upbeat as Yang look so morose. "It wasn't too bad when I started here. Even two years later when Ruby started school, it wasn't that bad." So what happened? "Then, one day, we didn't come into town together. I forget what happened, I think Ruby was just slow getting up, and I was impatient. There hadn't been many Grimm in that week, so I wasn't too worried about her."

"What happened?" The same sinking feeling I tended to get before some horrible revelation came.

"She's never told me." What? Ruby didn't tell Yang? Those two didn't' seem to have a secret between them. "All I know is that when she walked through the door, she was holding her scythe, shaking wildly, and bloody. She got about ten steps, and collapsed. Panic ensued."

"Oh my." That couldn't have ended well. I… I couldn't imagine how I might have reacted, when I was younger.

"Yeah. And those whispers started." Yang gave a smile that didn't seem the least bit happy. "After a while, they drifted onto me as well. And we got used to ignoring them." She sighed. I'd rarely seen Yang this beat up. "Dad never noticed, and I never told him. And Ruby wouldn't talk about it. She eventually found some friends, and I thought that was that."

She was blaming herself for something, I had plenty of experience doing that, making it easy to tell. Reaching out, I tentatively put a hand on her shoulder, hoping it was at least a little bit of comfort.

 _ **-Petals Scatter**_ -

 **Ruby**

Weiss stared at me in disbelief as I finished talking. For a few minutes, she tried to form the words, before just slumping against the table.

"I…Ruby…" Oops. I must have broken her.

"It's fine Weiss." Yang and I had gotten by, hadn't we? And I got to learn how to make cool bullets, and all sorts of stuff. "We came out fine didn't we?" Well, fine was kinda…relative? That was the word right?

"Ruby!" She sounded upset. I don't see why?

"What?" Popping a few more bullets into a magazine for Blake, I turned to face Weiss again. She shook her head, giving me a bit of an odd look. Confusion, I think. It was harder to figure out Weiss today for whatever reason. "That's what life was like for us." Somewhere in the back of my head the whispers were creeping back.

"Something is bothering you." Oh shoot. I hadn't kept my face from slipping. And Weiss was not going to let me off was she?

"It's nothing Weiss." She didn't need to worry about this. _Why would she want to care what a killer thinks._ I squashed that thought as hard as I could, wishing not for the first time that I could just go inside my own head and chop them up with Crescent Rose.

"It is something." She stepped a little closer to me, and I could feel the spike in my heartrate almost before it happened. "Ruby, you're jumpy, and closed off. Something is bothering you."

"Do…Do you think it's possible to be too good at fighting?" Not the truth, but it was something. And I had wondered before. _It doesn't matter. Fighting and killing are all you're good at now._ Stupid thoughts. More confusion on her face.

"What do you mean?" Weiss shook her head, pony tail flopping about. "How can you be too good at fighting?"

"Be honest Weiss." I wasn't about to tell her everything, but maybe I could get her to leave me alone? "I'm not super good with people. I'm on okay student, but mostly I'm just sorta…there? Everyone mentions me, and then mentions how I fight with a scythe, or how I cut the head off a giant Nevermore for initiation. Or that I blow up the labs." And it wasn't my fault. They insisted on doing things the long way. "Everyone here knows me as either Yang's sister, or that girl whose showed up to school bloody from fighting the Grimm in the forest." _Monster. That's all you are._

For a long time, my partner didn't speak, our eyes locked. I wasn't sure what emotions swam around in them, but there were a lot of them. "You really are a dunce sometimes." Wha? She stepped up next to me, my chest tightening, breathing shortening a bit. Cold fingers wrapped around my own. "You are worth so much more than that Ruby Rose." _She's lying._ But was she? We didn't use our full names when talking to each other, none of us did. Yang mostly called everyone by nicknames, but that was about the most names happened. "You are a good leader, and a better friend." She swallowed, as though the words caused her pain. "Better at either of those things than I can be." Another pause, this time, she took a long deep breath, that I found myself mimicking, in an effort to keep myself steady. _She still lying. You're a killer._ And there were the thoughts again, creeping in around the edges. "You…" She was biting her lip, and it should not be cute, for once a thought wasn't pushed aside. "There's more to you than just fighting. You sometimes can be a try hard, and get on everyone's nerved, and do things that make us all cringe, but at least you try."

"That doesn't make me special Weiss." Yup. Her biting her lip like that was way too cute.

Head tilting to the right just a bit, Weiss Schnee, the unofficial Ice Queen of Beacon Academy smiled. It wasn't a big one, but it was a smile. Were my insides turning to goo? Oh Dust they probably were. "It makes you very special Ruby." Her lips keep moving, and I was suddenly gratefully for the lip reading I practiced with Yang when we were bored. "At least to me."

Any other thought was drowned out by a high pitched mental squealing, as that sank in.

 _She'll change her mind. You're just a monster._ And then the thoughts were back again. Without even thinking about it, I shoved them back again.

"Besides." A little of the usual Weiss was back in her tone, and stance. "I'm going to figure out what this thing with my family is about, and there is no one I'd rather have watching my back while I do."

It was probably better for me still breathing that she wasn't being cute…and had backed away just a little bit. "Of course I'm helping." Even if we ignore…everything else. Weiss was my best friend. I wasn't about to let her go running off after some crazy stupid thing her family might have done. "I know someone who might be able to help too." The sharpness of her gaze told me that maybe revealing that wasn't the smartest thing ever. That would make Weiss ask questions again.

Dust. I couldn't do anything right.

 _ **-Petal's Scatter-**_

 **Weiss**

For some reason, I found myself unable to sleep. It wasn't nerves, I had nothing to be nervous about. I wasn't getting sick. It wasn't as though I had been sleeping to much, I could feel I was tired. Yet, I couldn't fall asleep.

Yang was asleep, sprawled across her bed in the usual fashion. Above me, Ruby had stopped tossing and turning about half an hour ago, which suggested she too was asleep. My gaze drifted down towards Blake, and, just as I was ready to conclude she was asleep as well, a single eye opened, zeroing in on my own. Oh right. Faunus senses.

"Can't sleep?" she rolled upright, head tipping to the side in a somewhat catlike inquiry.

"No." rolling back onto my back, I sighed aloud. We didn't have to worry about being overly quiet, Ruby and Yang both slept deeply once they had fallen asleep, so it was not as though we stood a chance of waking them. Blake didn't offer any further words, but I couldn't really be surprised. She tended to keep her words to herself. "I don't know why either."

Still no reply, although what could she have said.

"Those things…" The idea that my family could have anything to do with them was… fear and worry twisted at my gut. Half-Human, Half-Grimm? The very idea was barbaric. "I…" What would Blake think? If my family was responsible for them? Was there even something we could do?

"You haven't gone through those notebooks, have you?" Blake pointed out. "And you couldn't have known." Calm, methodical. Blake's normal decision making model, until the White Fang was involved. Then again, I could hardly call myself the paragon of rationality where they were involved.

"Not yet." Assuming no other complications arose, my plan for tomorrow was to peruse those notebooks. It was a weekend, so we only had ourselves to worry about, meaning I could devote a few hours to studying whatever those notes said. And making inquiries back at home if required.

We'd probably have to tell someone about the notebooks eventually as well. While I appreciated that everyone had been willing to hide them, part of me remained convinced it was a bad idea. Or that Ian somehow knew.

"And if my family is responsible?" The question floated out, hanging in the air. "Or at least is funding it?" I wasn't terribly familiar with how the upper level of government back home worked, but I knew that Father had some influence in it, and that the integration between government and military was high. And no doubt Father would jump on the chance for influence, or money. And I couldn't see that going over well with our Faunus teammate.

Blake didn't answer for a long time, letting the ball of worries in my gut build and build and build. "You didn't know about it, and had no part in it. I can't hold that against you." That was better than I deserved. A lot better than I deserved, considering how I reacted to finding out Blake had been in the White Fang. A lot better than I deserved. "Just as long as we agree that, whatever is going on, it has to stop." I gave an emphatic nod, knowing the Blake would be able to see.

Once again, we passed into silence, before Blake's breathing evened out, and I could only conclude she passed into sleep.

Rolling over, I tried to will myself to do the same, but the same ball of worries kept coming back. What if?

Tossing over, I froze when, out of nowhere, the bed above me shifted, just a bit. Despite seeming to be suspend in tape and prayers, to quote Yang, it was sturdy enough I wasn't concerned about being crushed. But Ruby didn't toss and turn in her sleep, despite how energetic she was. So whatever was going on was not normal.

Screwing my eyes shut, I lay still, just listening to the rustle of blankets, before there was a soft impact of feet on the ground. She was getting up then. As much as I dared, I let one eye open. Ruby's back was turned to me, so I couldn't see much, but it looked a lot like her shoulders was hunched forwards from tension. She padded across the room, almost without a sound, before opening the door, a notoriously creaky thing, and slipping out.

The instant the latch clicked again, I was upright, frowning. A glance at Yang and Blake told me both were still well and truly asleep, and thus hadn't noticed our leader leave.

For a moment, I was torn. On one hand, it wasn't exactly my business what Ruby did, or didn't do. But on the other, something was bugging her. And had been bugging her for a while, and it wasn't just what she'd told me at Signal earlier in the day. As her partner, I did consider it something of my problem what was bugging her.

So with that in mind, I slipped from my own bed, grabbing my Scroll, and slipping from the room.

The main issue of figuring out what had Ruby awake at night, was that I wasn't sure where to find her. She probably wouldn't have gone to the rooftops, as Jaune and Pyrrha tended to go practicing there, meaning that if she wanted privacy, that wouldn't be it. Maybe the library, which at first sounded counter-intuitive, but Ruby enjoyed novels quite a bit, perhaps the only way to get her to be quiet, so it was possible she would go there. But, a Ruby who was awake in the middle of the night would be out of sorts. None the less, it seems like a starting point, which I didn't have at this point.

As I walked through Beacon, a strange sort of worry bubbled up, one I found myself not really understanding. What was I even doing out of bed, at who only knew when, searching for my errant teammate?

It shouldn't have been a complicated question, really. But, as it seems, nothing with Ruby was quite… simple. Even something like that White Fang could turn into a cataclysmic mess culminating with a Grimm invasion of Vale. That was to disregard the fact that, when everything reached those sorts of confrontations, Ruby could someone step forwards, and just… succeed. Despite less training, arguably less experience, although I was starting to doubt that, than myself, or Yang, or even Blake, she was our team leader, and it was a roll she filled with a strange naturalness.

Shaking those thoughts off before they drifted to far, I found myself in the center of the library.

"Now. If I was Ruby…" My lips curled into a wry smile. Understanding half of what went on in Ruby's head was beyond me in most situations, never mind understanding all of it. Still, it did give me a good idea of places to start. Adventure novels, and weapons.

After a little though, I settled on guns first, without any particular reasoning behind it.

Padding through the shelves, I took a moment to glance at some of the titles. Weaponry was a subject I had little use for, having been trained in the use of a rapier since I was old enough to understand that being a Huntress was something I wanted. Firearms, according to Father, were for those beneath us, although I was being forced to reevaluate that opinion on an almost constant basis since arriving at Beacon.

 _A History of Sniper Rifles, and their Effect on Warfare._ A title that would no doubt have been exactly the sort of book Ruby might read. That girl could spend hours talking about that scythe of hers, yet ask her the first thing about a variety of other subjects, and she was clueless. Another mystery to add to the list.

Stepping around a bookshelf, I found myself confronted by one of the few things I had perhaps been fully prepared for.

Sitting in the corner, illuminated through the window by the waning moon, was Ruby. Her legs were pulled up under her and her arms wrapped around them. Her head was bowed, leaving it hard for me to see anything else, but from a distance, it sure looked as though she was crying, based on the soft shaking of her shoulders.

If there was a singular constant about Ruby's personality, it was that she didn't cry, and was always upbeat (yes, I am aware of the fact that is two things). Even earlier in the day, at Signal, she hadn't cried. Become upset, sure. But never cried. If there was ever a person to have a perpetually sunny outlook, it was Ruby. Of course, I was aware that even the best of us broke down sometimes, although I had never told Winter I knew about what happened between her and Father.

I think my steps must have echoed in the empty room, because as I started to approach her, Ruby's head snapped up, eyes wide in panic, flitting around before settling on me. A few errant rose petals flew as she took advantage of her speed to apparently wipe away tears. It was an effort not to roll my eyes. Only Ruby would use her Semblance for something so utterly mundane.

"Hi Weiss." It was a considerable effort for her to keep her voice form cracking, the greeting sounding forced, and choked off. "Taking a walk?" Her left hand flexed, a bit of an odd nervous tick, if Ruby could be said to have them.

"No." I shook my head. "I was looking for you." Her eyes widened, darting about again. Looking for an escape. I knew that habit well, and it didn't bode well for this conversation. "Ruby." It was hard to be calm, to think about this, what to say, how best to handle it.

"Yes?" Her legs were uncurling, preparing to run. The plant of her hand suggested she would throw herself sideways, and then be gone in a flare of rose petals. That was bad.

What to say? How to not make her panic? "I was worried about you." My heart was starting to race as well, and sweat started to form on my back. For a moment, Ruby seemed ready to turn and run, before she slumped back down again. Even though we were almost the same height and size, she seemed so very small, curled in a corner.

"Oh." There was a pause, and then her voice became a bit stronger. "Did I wake you up?" Typical Ruby worrying about everyone else first. Her eyes weren't as watery, although it seemed like an effort for her to keep herself calm, although it took me a bit to figure that particular thing about.

"I was already awake." Dropping down next to her on the floor, I tried to ignore the sudden flinch my prescience brought on. "Was wondering what had you up this late. You normally sleep like a rock."

Ruby gave a weak giggle, but it sounded…flat. That same, two Ruby's thought filtered through. "I get up quite a bit at night." She mumbled the words, head titling away from me, eyes shadowed by her hair. "It's fine Weiss," And of course Ruby was capable of reading me like an open book, "Really." Of course, that was a two-way street, and I could read her too. And Ruby, hiding her expression, and curled up in a ball, was more definitely not fine. And not even a very good liar.

"It isn't fine Ruby." Gentle. Don't freak her out. Neither of which were thing I was good at. What could I even say to her? "You're not sleeping. And hiding something." It shouldn't be physically painful, watching something so obviously hurting her, yet without any manner of help available.

For a moment, I thought she was going to freak out, and run, before she slumped down a bit. "It's just dreams Weiss." There was a pause. "It isn't like I sleep that well anyways." Really? That was a bit of a surprise to me. "I'm just really good at being quiet when I wake up." Apparently. And I thought I was a light sleeper. She giggled again, head shaking at some thought.

Although her giggling was adorable, you'd never get me to admit it, especially not at the moment. More important things to worry about. "More than just a light sleeper. I watched you leave, and you didn't make any noise at all. If I didn't know better, I would have thought you were an imposter." She snorted.

"I'm not always a total klutz Weiss!" Minorly offended. That was a bit more normal now. "You can go back to sleep you know?" Nope. That was not about to happen.

I suppose it would be appropriate to take a leaf out of Ruby's book. "Nope." It was, in many ways, an infuriating response to receive, as Jaune had apparently be informed. Ruby turned, glaring at me, in a way that, if not totally ineffectual, probably qualified as cute. Having dealt with people such as Father, I had gotten quite used to being glared at. And Ruby didn't hold a candle.

"That's not fair." Correction. She was glowering, not glaring. Still didn't help much. A bit of a smile crossed my lips.

"No, it really isn't, but that has never stopped you before has it?" Her eyes rolled, chin dropping back onto her knees. Something told me it was better to wait, than keep talking.

"It's just stupid dreams." A whisper, barely audible, even in the quiet library. "Or horrible ones." That was a rather large spectrum of possibilities. "These are just worse." Her head lifted a bit, both her fists clenching hard enough for the white in her knuckles to show. "It…I…" Stammering, the words failed to form. "Death Weiss. People _dying._ And I can't do anything..."

Dust. What had Winter said? I cast my mind back, trying to remember my conversation with my older sister, one of the few times she had come home after joining the military. We had never been all that close, the difference in our ages, and Winter being away with school saw to that, but for all that, we were close. And one day, she had come home, pale and shaking, I had managed to extract a few details about what was wrong. Apparently a mission, and she'd had to kill people. A lot of people. She'd seen a friend die too. And what had she said…

Unfortunately, that wasn't coming too me. All I could do was put an army around Ruby's shoulders, and grumble internally at how useless I felt. Even just with an arm resting over her shoulder, the tension bottled up inside Ruby was apparent, ever muscle stretched tight.

"It's not just that though." Dust, she sounded so broken. "Do you remember, after the invasion?" I could only nod. It was hard not to remember. A lot of death, and bleeding, and screaming. We hadn't had to help pick through the rubble, that had been Professor Goodwitch, with her Semblance, but there had been plenty enough of loss. "There was a kid down there, a little younger than me." The exact memory was not present for me, but Ruby kept talking. "He was curled in a ball crying. Somewhere in all that fighting, his Mom was killed."

I allowed myself a single moment of undignified thoughts, chiefly borrowing a few choice words from Yang.

"I wanted to be a Huntress so I could protect people… to keep people from…from…" A shudder rippled through her shoulders. A sob. "From having to feel that." That's right. Ruby's Mom had died when she was younger. All of us had our family troubles, it seemed, and it did explain why Ruby only ever mentioned her parents in passing. "And we…we…" Her forehead hit the top of her knees again. And she was crying.

I had done plenty of reading, about the various stresses of being in battle. About how people in the past had adjusted, and coped, and what could go wrong. If I was going to be a Huntress, I'd planned to be informed. Some of what I learned was from Winter, and listening to her talk about what she did, although I knew her job for the military was somehow different than what I would be doing.

"Its…empty, and horrible." Ruby was still talking, although I got the feeling she had forgotten I was there, and was just mumbling to herself. "Weiss." Or maybe she hadn't forgotten.

"Yes?" I tried to prepare myself for whatever was going to come out of her mouth next, which at this point, could be pretty much anything. Or at the very least, it was outside of anything I really knew about Ruby.

Her arms unwrapped from her legs, the motion slow, and without any of the usual fervor that Ruby might have had. Her left hand came up, wrapping around my own on her shoulder, the other, placed against the ground.

It had become something of a joke that my skin was as cold as my heart, after the first few times someone called me Ice Queen. Even so, I was not usually as aware of just how much colder I was than Ruby. At that moment, however, it felt like my hand was suddenly stuffed into a heater. Had I known better, I would have suggested that Ruby was just feverish, but one of the few advantages of Aura was that it heightened the immune system, preventing most minor illness.

"Did I ever tell you about Mom?" Her voice was quiet. "Besides what Blake told Yang I mean?" Right. Some story involving Ruby's Mom had convinced Blake to take a step back on hunting for Torchwick. But, Blake never said what, and Yang was less than forthcoming. Ruby had known whatever Yang said the instant she'd walked back into the room though. It must have been some sort of sister thing, or maybe it just came from knowing each other as well as they did. I certainly couldn't pull that same trick off with Winter, or Whitley.

"No." I paused. "And Blake never told me what Yang talked about." No, that in a reversed situation, I probably would have either.

A deep breath. Then another. "I…I don't remember her very much." Her fingers fumbled, a Scroll appearing in her hand. A few flicks, taps, and then a picture appeared.

It was easy to see the resemblance between Mother and Daughter. And where Ruby's style of dress originated, although her Mother apparently preferred White over Red. And apparently that hair collar was natural. I had wondered.

"She was a Huntress, on a Team with Dad, Uncle Qrow, and Yang's Mom." Right. They were only half-sisters. "And she was _awesome._ She had the best stories, about places she'd been, and people she helped, and monsters that she killed." A bit of the usual life had returned to Ruby as she spoke. "Yang says her cookies are what got me addicted to sweet things, but…" She didn't remember. "And then…I was…it was my birthday when we found out. That she wasn't coming back." A short rasping sob. "I was too young to really get it, the idea that being a Huntress was dangerous. I just thought it was this cool thing my Mom did, that gave her awesome stories to tell me before bed." Ruby made an attempt to smile, without any success. There was too much pain in that smile, not enough of the regular cheer. "I didn't really get it until…a long time later." There was a pause, as if she was gathering the courage to say something. "When I killed a Grimm the first time."

What? It was becoming a recurring theme of my thoughts tonight it seemed. Ruby had implied that she had fought Grimm a lot earlier than most of the other kids on Patch, as had Yang, possibly as young as eleven or twelve…but I didn't see how these things added up.

Having an absent parent was something I could empathize with… considering my Mother. And that was before I even considering Father. But just… losing your Mother? My chest hurt from thinking about it.

"Something coming at you, intending to kill you? That's what made me realize being a Huntress was dangerous. And that's what made me realize what happened to Mom…until then, I just kinda denied it I guess. Thought I wasn't good enough, or that something happened, and she had to leave for a long time." Tear now, more and more of them.

She turned to face me, and something in my stomach dropped.

The light of the moon no doubt made the effect worse, but seeing Ruby, her eyes swollen from crying, hurt on a level it shouldn't have.

"And… I dream about her sometimes." Oh Ruby... that was, I had no doubt the reason she was here, away from everyone. "She's…she's right there. And I…I can't Weiss!"

She collapsed against my chest, sobbing. I wrapped my arms around the sobbing girl, wondering if there was anything I could do to lift at least a bit of her burden.

 _ **-Petals Scatter-**_

 **Cinder**

The report on the screen was troubling. It seemed the one of the Doctor's test locations had been compromised. By those four girls that had been causing us such problems no less.

Such complications were to be expected of course. Our enemy had been alerted to our presence, but this far had failed to marshal any sort of response, or even locate the three sitting right under their nose. All they did was squirrel away the body of their Fall Maiden, as it such things would prevent the inevitable. While no doubt, Ozpin, and his assistant would be difficult to overwhelm, I was quite certain that should the situation call for it, I would be able to do so, even with only a fraction of the Maiden's powers. Or without them.

A small flame formed over my right hand. The power of Fall. Last in a long line of pieces, carefully aligned to ensure the plan came to fruition. All that remained was to stay the course, regardless of the rising complications. Besides, when our enemy had yet to understand the nature of the threat presented, it was not my place to reveal it to them.

The postponement of their little tournament was annoying, but ultimately of no consequence to the plans. If anything, it meant there was more time to collect resources, and all the little gift I had planted into the CCT tower to work its magic, as well as allowing me to ensure all of the pawns were in place. The loss of a single test location was of little importance. If anything, it would remove a potential thorn in my side.

The file pulled up on screen had made me pause at first, much the same as running into Ruby Rose had, although for a different reason. Where the silver eyed girl was worrying for that reason alone, Ian Blackwood was worrying for a far more important reason, especially if he was responsible for finding that test location. Few people had access to the breadth of information had. Perhaps, he could be sent elsewhere. That would simplify things. I'm sure the good Doctor would enjoy a new…associate.

So, the question was, where might they be sent? Somewhere… cold. and out of the way. Choices, choices.

 **A/N: Done! On time, so I don't get yelled at for not keeping promises. Now I can sleep for a…oh wait. Thursday's are my day off. Damn.**

 **I hope everyone enjoyed this one, which is a bit a change of pace from the first chapter. A little slower paced, and a lot of talking, and character bits, which I know aren't everyone's cup of tea, but I do kinda need them going forwards, to explain the AU-ish elements I have going on. Although most of that is really just mean dicking around in backstories a bit, but not very much. Was supposed to have more Yang and Blake as well, but that apparently is next chapter. This one was getting long in the tooth, and I didn't feel like pushing an update back a week, just for that. So instead you get like 500 words of Cinder. Not a fair trade. At all.**

 **Also, in case no one picked up, I'm going to play the psychological consequences of stuff out in full here. PTSD is a thing, and having 17-18-year-old kids (or 15) killing monsters, or in otherwise traumatic circumstances, is a recipe for it. And people die when their giant robots explode in fire. (No Brakes, or Breach). And so on. I'm not going to turn RWBY into a bunch of murders or anything, but in past events were dudes should be dead? Dudes are dead. And losing a parent isn't always good for the psyche either. I'm not going to go and alter anyone's personality, I'm going to do my damndest to make all this work, within the framework of characters given…which has proven a hell of a task, but I apparently am a masochistic moron, so it'll all work out dandy. At the very least, it can't be worse than Darkness.**

 **Oh, and while I know that Word of God is that Grimm don't bleed; they are going to bleed here, because it makes more sense to me. They are living breathing things, they bleed. I'm not going to explain them being 'alive' via magic or something. They have organs and a metabolism and so on.**

 **Not quite going for realism, but I'm also not going to sugar coat stuff. In essence. It's 11 pm, I'm tired as hell from literally working on this for hours today. So I'm probably no longer making sense.**

 **Okay. That's enough of my rambling. Reviews are always appreciated, as are questions, comments, and concerns. I'm going to do my best to respond to reviews, but if I take a little bit, it probably means I'm still up to my eyeballs editing, or writing. At latest, I'll reply by Wednesday, since I'm publishing Fire Emblem that day, and thus am on FFN more. I'll attempt to reply to guest reviews in these massive author's notes, but I'm not going to promise to anything, because I doubt these damn things are way to long.**

 **Oh! Before I go scurrying back into my cave (** **to keep writing more** **sleep), and become engulfed in virtual paper as I frantically scramble to write and edit, another thanks of Aura of Twilight, whose FFN account I finally learned (Angel of Darkness and Light). She puts up with all my bullshit when I'm writing this thing, including my literally overthinking a silly, throwaway plot point for like, 20 minutes. (for those curious, that is contained below, in about 700 words of rambling). But, anyways. As well as a massive thanks to Aura/Angel for putting up with me, if anyone reading this likes Fire Emblem as well, she just posted a Fire Emblem/RWBY crossover that looks like it shall be tons of fun.**

 **Now, I realize it looks like there is a lot of extra text on the page, but I'm going to tell you right now that, you miss nothing by skipping it. Literally nothing, except 700ish words of me ranting about when Summer died, and thinking way to hard. So. You have been warned. Stop now, unless you just want to read me ranting, and being pedantic for no flipping reason, in which case, go ahead.**

 **So. Okay. I think way too much about this goddamn show. I was trying to figure out when Ruby's mom died, and how old Ruby was. Now, in the first episode, Ruby says her parents, plural, always told them to help people, implying she has some concrete memories of her mom. Given that memories don't form until after about 4-5, this means she was, at least that old when Summer died. However, even if we assume, and this seems correct, that Taiyang beat this idea over the head pretty hard when he snapped out of his funk, the fact that Ruby remembers Summer talking about it too means that Summer probably didn't die until Ruby was older than that, since memories from age 4-5 are rarely very clear. So, based upon episode 1, my conservative estimate was that Summer died when Ruby was between 6-7, give or take a few months.**

 **Then, in Vol. 2. Episode 6 (Burning the Candle, since I might have the number wrong from memory, and it's 10p.m so I'm too lazy to look it up) Yang when Yang's telling Blake about she almost got herself and Ruby killed looking for Raven, she says that Ruby was a toddler, as well as not old enough to really understand what is going on at the time, and it is implied that this was after Summer died. Now, by the definition, and, in this case, even how most people look at it, a toddler is usually between 2-3 or so. Given that this is stated to be after, and implied to be some time after, Summer dies, let's say…three months, that means that, Summer died, at the most, when Ruby was a little less than 3, according to that. Now, apparently children begin to understand the idea of death to varying degrees between 4-9. So, if, and this is a big if, we take Yang's interpretation to be true, then this would correlate that Ruby is less than 4 when Summer dies. Bases on this episode.**

 **So, obviously these two things don't quite an agree. 2-3 is a whole hell of a lot less than 6-7. Now, this is getting into a little more dubious sourcing, but if we take soundtrack lyrics as a reference point (dubious I know, but I was really confused and willing to be creative here, although I didn't help), Red Like Roses II, indicates some level of resentment towards her Mother from Ruby. Now, if we assume this to be true, then the puzzle gets even more muddled. Obviously this is something that would develop over time, not necessarily right away, but if we take this to be true, then, it much be concluded that Ruby is at least older than 4, because again, memory doesn't form concretely until the age of 4-5.**

 **So. Let's make this even more fucking complicated. Although most of us don't really realize it, we don't remember jack shit from before about 6-7. This is because, as the brain develops, we don't initially have the wiring required to from full on memories, so while memory starts to form at 3-5, we basically forget everything from that time period by the time we turn 7. With me so far? I'll forgo citing sources for this bit, just google childhood amnesia in you want more info. So, moving forwards again. We obviously remember bits and pieces from before that point, but is regarded that memory is most concrete after about 9.**

 **Think I'm overthinking it yet?**

 **So. In summary. The first episode suggests that Summer died when Ruby was between about 6-7. Burning the Candle suggests she was less than 4. Song lyrics (holy hell that's a weird info source), suggest greater than four, but little else. And finally, good old fashion logic, says at least 6-7, but probably more like 8-9. In other words, nothing really agrees with anything.**

 **Now, the most obvious counter argument to this is, Muse, it's a goddamn anime, stop thinking so hard. To which, I would agree….at least for the last item on the list. The rest of it though, is literally the source material having a snit. So, what do I do?**

 **The answer, as it happens, is a mix. Or more accurately, more thinking too hard that ends up working well. So. I'm going to do the route of unreliable memories here, and say that Yang's bit is accurate, in the sense that the events happens, she just remembers the time wrong. Besides that, I have a hard time swallowing that a five-year-old could do what she says. (Read: Muse is a pedantic fuck). So. For the purposes of this story, Summer died when Ruby was seven, Yang was nine. The events talked about in Burning the Candle happened accordingly a month or two after this.**

 **There. Stupid, nitpicking bullshit over. I'm done. I give up. Just shoot me. Shoot me for putting this much thought into how I'm psychologically fucking up a 15-year-old girl. Or shoot me for other stuff.**

 **Maybe I should make a thing, where I can compile this crazy list of shit that I overthink when writing this.**


	3. Chapter 3: Staging

**Chapter 3: Staging**

 _ **-Petals Scatter-**_

 **Blake**

"Oh come on!" I was awakened by shouting from Yang. "We don't get any vacation time after that?" There was a tremendous crashing sound, and I was upright, looking around in surprise.

Whatever the crash was, it had, apparently, come from out of the room, as all of our stuff was in its normal spots. Ruby and Weiss were sitting on the latter's bed, still in pajama's, and Yang was hanging over the edge of her bunk, upside down, and otherwise invisible to me.

"What's going on?" Stretching, I fought down a yawn, and then a laugh when Yang, who apparently hadn't noticed me waking up, fell off her bed with a thump. Ignoring her indignant squawking, I took in the scowling faces of Ruby and Weiss, and the notebooks splayed across their laps, and the Scroll sitting on top of those.

"We're not sure." Weiss gestured to the notebooks. "Professor Ozpin seems to want to see us in his office about that mission." She made a face. "And these notebooks have been utterly, completely useless."

"Well, the guy who wrote them is super messed up." Ruby added, no doubt in an attempt to be helpful. Her glare at the book was as close to hatred as the dark haired girl got. "Like, really messed up." I wasn't entirely certain what Ruby's standards from messed up where, but given that she was capable of wholesale slaughter of Grimm,

"We knew that already sis." Yang pointed out from the floor. "You'd have to be a few screws loose to even think about trying that, ya'know?" She rolled upright, shrugging. "When'd Ozpin say he wanted us to stop by?"

Ruby picked her Scroll up from the pile of books. "He doesn't say. Just that he'd like us to stop by sometime today, to talk about that mission?" A small shrug. By her expression, she wasn't too worried about that conversation, although I couldn't help the rising worries.

"Well, in that case, we should probably go as soon as possible." Giving Weiss a bit of a sideways look, I couldn't help but be concerned.

Maybe it was my initially laid back life, but the way that Weiss was so quick to be wherever we had been told to be always seemed odd, and how jumpy she tended to get if we were running late. It was a small observation, but combined with many others painted an unpleasant image of her life.

Pushing myself upright, I glanced at the clock. Still fairly early in the morning.

"Breakfast first." I declared. Weiss's mouth opened to object, but luckily Ruby stopped her from objecting with a nod. If nothing else, Ruby could be counted on to gravitated towards food in the mornings.

"Breakfast first." As if to punctuate the point, someone's stomach growled. Possibly mine. Or Yang's. "See?" Only Ruby could manage to make a smug smile seem innocent.

"Oh, fine." And only Ruby could get Weiss to give in that easily. Trading a quick smile with my own partner, we'd be resigned ourselves to being entertained by the two of them trying to figure out their crush on the other a long time ago, I rolled out of bed.

Getting to breakfast, as it happened, was never something that Team RWBY could do quickly. For starters, Ruby and Weiss fought over who got to shower first, (Ruby always won, usually do to outright abuse of her speediness), and then it took a further ten minutes to find book covers that Weiss could use for those notebooks, which, despite how horrible they supposedly were, she was quite engross in reading.

 _ **-Petal's Scatter-**_

"I'm not saying a damn word until everyone you want to be here is here." Two and a half hours later, it seemed like we arrived right on time in Ozpin's office.

To some degree, I found myself disappointed. The room itself was plain, wrapped almost entirely, by a window that gave an, admittedly, impressive view of the Beacon Campus, and the city of Vale beyond that. A mass of twisting gears filled the room. The only piece of furniture was a large desk, behind which the Headmaster sat, taking a sip from what smelled a lot like extremely black coffee. According to Ruby, he carried that cup everywhere, which I found difficult to believe.

I had to conceal my surprise at the number of people in the room already. I knew Ian, and Professor Goodwitch well enough. The man leaning against Ozpin's desk was someone I had only seen pictures of, and hoped to avoid dealing with. General Ironwood of Atlas, not quite the face of everything Adam had railed against, but close enough. Next to him was another woman, clad in white's and blues, hair drawn up in a tight bun. She stood at attention, hands folded behind her back.

"Winter!" Confusion, and surprise from Weiss. So that was the name of the mysterious woman, if nothing else. I had no idea who she might be, although based on her facial structure, I suspected a sister. For obvious reasons, Weiss didn't talk about her family, so all I could do was guess for the moment.

"Oh, good." Head titling to the side, just enough for his left eye to become visible, Ian spoke. "We can finally get this moving." Although we had only spent a day in his company on a mission, he had displayed a wide range of emotions, from rage, to amusement, and a chilling determination. Yet, none of those really matched his tone now. There was something else too him, he was upset, but in a way I didn't understand.

"Um…what's going on?" Ruby led the way into the office, head moving from face to face. One of her hands was closer to Crescent Rose than normal, suggesting she as wary of what was happening. The tension, already highly palpable in the room, mounted, hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.

Professor Ozpin lowered his mug, hands folding before him. "We wished to talk to you about the mission your four took part in yesterday. It has raised a number of questions, the answers to which have unfortunate implications…for a number of people."

Ironwood cleared his throat. "In particular, for the relationship between Kingdoms." Wait. Ian said those things had to be Atlas creations right? Why would an Atlas general be here? With a faint rustle of clothing, Yang's arms crossed.

"You mean like having to explain why a whole bunch of twisted monsters are running around the countryside?" Could she have been any blunter? Then again, subtle was not Yang's forte.

Ironwood winced, shifting his weight onto a back foot. "That is a question we are all asking at the moment." His hands folded behind his back, just like the woman standing next to him, Winter. "It has always been Atlas policy that any such creatures are simply leftovers from the war, and that the program to create them was discontinued prior to the war ending… but this report casts severe doubt on this policy."

"Oh, does it now?" One of Ian's eyebrows arched. "It, _casts doubt_. What more do you fucking want? To go see the corpses for yourself?" If I had thought the issue was a sore spot for him before, the aggressive, combative stance drove the point home.

"General." Winter, assuming that was her name, spoke up. "The implication that those… things, have continued to be made has been floated before." Tension built in the air, as Ironwood's face twisted.

"And why haven't I been informed of this?" He would make a good general, I though. Steely, commanding air. He didn't seem to have the charisma that some of… them had, but there was no doubt soldiers would follow his orders to the letter, and loyally.

"Because, the information was classified." Her reply was stiff, grimacing even. I turned to try and guess what was going on from Weiss, who, despite her scowl, didn't seem to know. Crossed arms, and, like Ruby, one hand resting near the hilt of her weapon. "Oracle insisted that all of his personal projects be classified to the highest order, and, without his encryption keys, no one has been able to gain access to the files since then." Her eyes closed for a moment. "All attempts have been unsuccessful, and to my knowledge, no one has even managed to get into his office."

Ozpin cleared his throat. "While this is a fascinating conversation, I fear we are getting a bit far afield?" A statement and a question all at once. Subtlety effective at controlling the flow of the conversation. He seemed good at those.

"I don't know, hearing Atlas have its dirty laundry aired out is pretty fun." Ian piped up, having reverted back to the laid back style of a few moments ago.

"Ahem." The general shook his head. "If you four don't mind," he turned to address us all directly, "I would like your direct account with the monsters that Huntsman Blackwood described in his report?"

Dust. Did we have to relieve forty minutes of continuous hell again? Having to dream it, over and over, last night had been bad enough. And I had seen death more than the others. I didn't want to imagine what it was like for Ruby, especially Ruby, to try and cope with that. Or Yang. As I gathered from the White Fang, the more gruesome the death's the harder it was for people to cope.

"A-Alright." The decisive nod seemed as much for her own benefit as anyone else's, but Ruby started talking.

They listened in silence, even though I saw several times when Professor Goodwitch, and Winter, wanted to interrupt. Especially when Yang was describing the…fight. Ian, kept silent as well, no doubt having already given his version of events, although he did wince a few times, and scowl further.

In truth, that wasn't much of a fight, although a regular human going up against a Huntsman or Huntress never was; Aura and Semblance elevated us to a level that even the most dedicated regular person wasn't able to reach. That perhaps, was the strangest bit. Those things, despite being half-Grimm, should Ian be believed, were fairly weak in combat. Just like the average Grimm you might find wandering the woods, they were only a threat in large numbers, when they could surround and attack from more sides than you could defend.

As our recounting finished, another, heavy silence filled the room. Professor Ozpin's head was bowed, obscuring his expressions, but in a way, he seemed smaller than before. Professor Goodwitch was shaking with what seemed like rage, and Winter seemed equally upset. Ironwoods eyes were narrowed, his expression one of deep thought.

"You…" Professor Goodwitch stumbled over her words. "Goodness."

Ironwood was the first to recover himself. "Winter. What was the-"

"Twenty-six was the largest previously recorded concentration sir, at least that Oracle informed anyone of." She paused, as though considering going on, before thinking better of it.

"Wait wait wait." Yang made a gesture. "You're saying that, so far as you," She jabbed a finger towards Winter, "Are aware, what we fought yesterday was ten times more of those things than ever seen in one place."

"That is correct." Winter gave a shallow nod, expression remaining bland, although the way her weight shifted, suggested that there was more to say. "All files pertaining to those incidents were classified some years ago, and to my knowledge, have not been declassified."

"Why not?" Ruby shook her head. I had to agree, I didn't think that it would be such a production, to handle security protocols. Then again, militaries were not something I studied extensively.

Professor Ozpin, to my surprise answered. "Unfortunately, the person responsible had the… forethought, to encrypt his files, using what I understand to be a highly advanced system, resulting in abject failure of any attempts to crack the system."

"And, as Commander Oracle was killed in action some years ago, we have no means of accessing any file he deemed worthy of encryption." Winter filled in, the notes of her words being at once, admiring and annoyed.

So. Someone had basically screwed them out of any helpful information? Wouldn't they have systems in place to prevent this? When I asked as much, the General turned to Winter, arching an eyebrow. The woman sighed.

"Oracle was, if nothing else, paranoid to the core. While you are correct, there were systems in place, he either subverted those systems, or blatantly ignored them." Once again, she seemed almost fond of this Oracle. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ian smirking, just a bit.

"Who was this Oracle guy then?" Ruby asked. "And if he found this stuff out, can't someone else?" Also good questions. Especially, just who was this guy, and why was he important.

There was a silence, a lot of glances between Ozpin and Ironwood. "Oracle was the Commander of the Intelligence Division of the Atlas Military." The General began. "I never worked with him personally, as his death came a few weeks before my promotion to my current position, however he was well known for disregarding rules and regulations he felt cumbersome or that slowed down the processes of his office, which earned him a great deal of respect, as well as animosity. Despite that, he was an effective Commander,"

"Wait." Weiss cut in, eyes zeroing in on Winter. "Winter is he-?" It was unlike Weiss to end a question prematurely, she was always careful to complete her entire sentences. A glance towards my teammate revealed nothing.

"Yes, he is." Um, what? I could almost feel the thoughts running through my teammates, but, in her usual fashion, Weiss took over the conversation, apparently determined to redirect the topic away from this Oracle.

"None of this explains what we are doing here." Our white-haired teammate pointed out. "This seems like it is all information that is, classified, or on a 'need to know'" The mocking tone with which she used the descriptor told me everything I need to know about her feelings, "which it seems like we aren't."

A throat snorty ripped from Ian. "She's got a good point Ozpin. Why are they here?"

The Headmaster gave a long sigh. "Because, last night, Mrs. Schnee," He nodded towards the woman, "Stumbled across something while on her flight into the city."

"I was reviewing the mission report at the request of General Ironwood." Winter stepped forwards, her speaking manner becoming clipped and precise. "When I found attached a series of files that suggested a possible location for where those things might have been produced in the past, along with security footage indicating the facilities might still be active."

"I thought all such information was classified?" Professor Goodwitch shook her head. "So why would these files crop up now?"

"Oracle, as you recall, earned his codename." Ozpin mused, seeming to be talking to everyone except us. "It seems possible he might have set the files to unlock at this specific time?" Watching the man's eyes as he took another long drink of his coffee, however, suggested he didn't believe his own theory for a second.

Winter shook her head, expression one of equal disbelief. "Oracle's Semblance only ever extended a few hours, or at most a day or so. He was also quite fond of reminding us that the future can change, and as such, we should never bank upon it." Someone with a Semblance that could read the future? Or, at least, that's what I was getting from her statement.

"Sounds like a cheery fellow." Ian mused, returning to the conversation. Winter rounded on him, glaring hard, not seeming to take the implied insult to someone she must have been close to well. That didn't stop the Huntsman, however, from going on. "Either that, or a bit of a conceited ass."

"You-"

"Schnee!" So that made her related to Weiss for certain then. Ironwood cut her off, and she froze, bowing her head a bit, without seeming quite sorry. "We agree that this information seems a bit suspicious, but if this event was as bad as you claim, and they are being created in Atlas itself, we could be looking at a major security incident." He continued, expression somber, and facial muscle tense.

"This is further complicated by the fact that General Ironwood has brought the bulk of the Atlesean Fleet here to Vale, in the interest of security around the Vytal Festival." Professor Ozpin was scowling, as well. I didn't need to be some kind of expert to know that wherever all this information was going, it couldn't end well.

"But wasn't that postponed?" Ruby's head cocked to the side. "Or was is postponed so your ships could get here?" Astute of Ruby. As always, I found myself wondering how much of our team leaders goofiness was legitimate, and how much was just a front she put on because it made dealing with everyone around her easier.

I suspected some of both. But that wasn't the point of this…whatever this was, and I could address it at a later time.

"It would lead to a security incident, because, should those monsters get loose in the streets of Atlas, it would be mass carnage." Ian filled in, the expressions of the actual Atleasan's in the room suggesting he was correct. "And with seventy percent of their military making a good show of _not_ invading Vale, Atlas itself is pretty shorthanded to defend against attacks." A pause for him to scratch his jaw. "Not that any of this explains what you've gathered this specific group of people for."

"I believe we need to investigate this, and at once." Ironwood's answer was immediate, but still wasn't answer. Well, it was an answer, but it didn't answer Ian's question. Something in my head started to pound, and I had to make a conscious effort to keep my ears from twitching in response to the oncoming headache.

"Then use some of them soldiers left guarding you Dust forsaken rock." Although out in the village, Ian had displayed some level of distaste for Atlas, it was surprising to see him so blunt about it to the General. "Unless they are all sitting around-" He cut himself off. Beside me, Yang gave a snort, no doubt having a good guess at what sort of unpleasant phrase he was going to utter.

"It isn't that simple." Winter sighed. "This issue is as much political as it is military. Should word that the military is challenging the established narrative around those creatures get out-"

"People like Father start asking questions." What? All eyes snapped to Weiss at her interjection. Already pale, the Schnee Heiress was almost chalky, eyes wide. I knew her Father was powerful, every Faunus did; we could trace so many of the problems we faced in the recent century back to that one man, and his cronies, but I hadn't realized he carried heavy political power in Atlas as well.

"Correct." Winter gave a shallow nod. "And the current head of the Intelligence Division is mostly a puppet for such figures, meaning the Military cannot rely on them either." Fantastic. It was so comforting to know that in a country that was ostensibly a military dictarorship,

"That is where the people here come in." Ironwood resumed speaking. "I cannot officially act to find anything out, even to reach out to the local Huntsmen and Huntresses, or deploy our Specialists." He paused, taking a deep breath. "What I can do, is ask Professor Ozpin if some of his students would like to tour Atlas, during the downtime before the Festival."

He wasn't serious.

"James! You can't be serious!" Professor Goodwitch's outrage had, it seemed, reached a breaking point. "That is madness!"

Ian's rumbling snap carried as well. "Haven't they given enough, you miserable bastard!" Every inch of his expression was screwed up with rage, an emotion similar to his reaction to seeing those monsters in that village.

If my head had hurt before, the rising din of shouting, as Ian and Ironwood started in on each other, hurling an insults back and forth, Professor Goodwitch joining in from time to time a well, was enough to make it so. The effort of will to block out in the veritable cannon barrage of words was hard, and I made a note to find somewhere quiet to be after this was done.

Seeming to sense that whatever was going on was going to take a while for them to resolve, Ruby and Weiss turned their back on the arguing adults, where expressions equally exhausted and confused by the proceedings. Ruby seemed just overwhelmed by everything, eyes wide, and fingers twitching. Weiss's alabaster skin shades paler than normal, pupils wide, jaw set. Sure signs of her being anything but alright. Exactly what was wrong only Ruby could guess though.

Yang's arms were crossed, her default, if defensive posture, weight set back, easy to slide into a fighting stance. Of the four of us, Yang was probably the calmest, as though her usual adrenaline fueled lifestyle prepared her for this sort of moment. Then again, her tension was always well hidden, kept at bay until she could turn it against a concrete thing, in an explosion of fire.

Every part of me wanted to flee, bolt from the room as fast as possible. Be anywhere but here. Preferable with the others. I clamped down on that desire, my teammates needed me, before anything else.

There was a moment, where I could almost watch the tension in Ruby shift, pushed back, settling elsewhere in her body. Her attention settled on Yang first, the two sisters trading a bit of a look, communicating something between them in an instant, the sort of understanding I was given to understand only siblings could achieve. Or Ruby and Weiss. And maybe Yang and I.

Her eyes drifted to me, silver sharpened, picking away at me, in a way that Ruby only could. I wasn't sure how much of the fear, the worries running wild in my head the younger girl picked up upon, before her gaze left me. Oddly, she didn't lock eyes with Weiss, but then again, Ruby probably already knew. Her sense of the white haired girl's mindset was always borderline telepathic.

"They want us to go to Atlas." Weiss mumbled, shaking her head, as though the idea was ridiculous. For a moment, I could recall that she was always hesitant to talk about her home, although we never really knew why. So maybe her freaking out was kinda to be expected.

"We don't have too." Ruby pointed out. "Besides," She glanced over her shoulder at the argument, "That's a lot of arguing too." Weiss's expression suggested she didn't believe Ruby's words for a second. "We don't have to Weiss." There seemed to be a flash of conversation between them, one of Ruby's hand coming to rest on Weiss's shoulder. "I promise."

"Am I the only one who feels super lost with all of this?" Yang butted in, in a manner that might have seemed rude, but I knew well enough that she was trying to avoid the rising tension.

I shook my head, glancing towards the argument, which was now mostly pointless shouting. "I think we're all missing something. Ruby, did he ever saying anything about Atlas when the rest of us were sleeping?" She shook her head.

"Sure seems like he's got a problem with them, that's for sure." Yang gave me a nod. "Of course, he seems to have a problem with everybody." She sighed. "Any idea what to do about this?" My partner frowned, gesturing. "I mean, we've fought those things, and they're…"

"Really bad." Tossing a nod Yang's went, I picked up the thread of conversation. "We're not spies though Yang. And that's what their asking about." A pause. "If we even went." There was a longer pause, as everyone worked out what they thought of that idea. Ruby's arched an eyebrow, apparently wanting me to speak first. "I don't trust it."

Yang shrugged, as I had suspected she would, although the way her jaw was set suggested that, even if that was the case, she wasn't going to push the issue if Weiss or I said no. It was hard to say where Ruby came down on the issue.

"I don't know…" Weiss trailed off. "Winter seems to think it is a big deal, and she would know but…" But Weiss didn't want to go back to Atlas, for reasons that were impossible to guess at, for me at least.

"Who is she anyways, Princess? Your sister?" A good question. We didn't know much about Weiss's family, aside from what I already knew about her Father, none of which was terribly positive. Even the few times that man got mentioned, Weiss hadn't implied he was a nice person.

"Yes." Weiss nodded, mouth opening to say more, before it closing it again. Odd. "If Winter thinks whatever is going on is important, then it probably is…" The words trailed off.

I picked out a particularly interesting insult from the shouting match, and cringed. Apparently Ian really didn't think sending the four of us to do whatever this all entailed was a good idea. As though our agreement was a foregone conclusion. Then again, when I stopped to think about it, they were probably right.

For Yang, it wasn't complicated, she got to see the world, an adrenaline fueled adventure, and might have a chance to get her hands on more information about her Mother. At least, in a vaccum, that was Yang's choice. Easy to figure out. The real trick though, would be what Ruby wanted.

Speaking of Ruby, guessing how she felt about any of this was hard. Helping people was her thing, and she would always jump into any situation where she could, if one discounted firearms and the fact that Ruby could occasionally be as combat happy as Yang was. Where things got complicated with Ruby was Weiss. If Weiss wasn't okay with it, or rally if I wasn't okay with it, Ruby would probably tell them exactly where that whole idea could be shoved. If perhaps in less angry language that was being used.

As for myself…I just wasn't sure. Those things were unnatural…monsters even. That didn't make the idea of killing them any more palatable. I had left the White Fang over that idea. While I could rationalize the act with that idea that someone had twisted those people, or what been people, into monsters. They didn't have much left in terms of humanity, so killing them was a mercy. At least, that's what I tried to convince myself of.

Basically this all was just a mess. The screaming argument behind us had finally died down, and everyone attention turned back to the adults, none of whom seemed happy.

"How about you do something reasonable, and ask them what they think?" The venom from Ian was impressive, glaring up at Ironwood, who seemed almost towering over the Huntsman, not that he seemed intimidated.

Professor Ozpin gave a slow nod. "Ian is correct. Nothing is going to happen if Team RWBY does not agree." The entire group turned towards us, expressions expectant.

 **-Petal's Scatter-**

 **Weiss**

I had grown up used to silence, for long periods of time, growing up. Having to sit next to Father when he elected to drag me along on one of his business trips had left me more than willing to be quiet, and used to occupying myself in the quiet.

In that time, I had also come to appreciate the different kinds of quiet, and the quiet in our dorm was anything but a pleasant one. Ruby had immersed herself in some weapons manual, the one cue she was anything but happy, as if there weren't a hundred other cues in place already. Blake was reading something, but hadn't turned a page in ten minutes, although I couldn't say more about what was going on in her head for sure. Yang was doing an admirable job of faking being asleep, otherwise known as brooding.

Thus, the silence as becoming oppressive, as none of us wanted to address the situation at hand. For the second or third time in the last hour, I started to form the words, and then clamped down on them again.

"Ugh!" The muffled impact of paper against the wall made everyone jump, attention snapping to Ruby, abruptly bereft of the manual she'd be reading, which was now on the floor across the room. "This is ridiculous…" Her shoulders slumped.

The silence was deafening as we all took _that_ in.

With a rustle, Yang rolled over, groaning. "Not sure that's quite the word I'd use sis." Definitely faking sleep then. Not that it surprised me much.

"What would you suggest instead?" Blake groused. "Disaster?"

Yang snorted, glancing towards her sister, as though weighing the merits of what she was about to say versus her sometimes ridiculous desire to keep her sister innocent. "Was gonna call it a clusterfuck, but disaster works too."

Well then. Crass wasn't quite unusual for Yang, but for her to swear in front of Ruby was. Apparently all of this sat worse with her than I had thought.

"Yang." A long sigh from Ruby was the only admonishment Yang got. "Even though you're probably right." Well then. "What do we tell them though?"

And that was the sticking point. Ozpin had convinced Ironwood to give us some time to think about what they were asking, and come up with any questions we might have; although that wasn't all that much help.

"Weiss's sister seems to think that whatever this is, it's worth trusting." Yang shrugged. "We don't really have much to go on here. Just some random stuff?"

That reminded me. Oracle. According to Winter, one of her old teammates. "Winter trusts it because Oracle was her teammate." All of them turn to me. "he's probably the only person I can safely say my sister completely trusted." More even than me, or anyone else in the family. I only knew he was dead because I'd seen her crying afterwards.

"But how does she know that the files are genuine?" Blake shook her head, hair swaying. "Or that any of this isn't some kind of trap? Just suddenly getting those files, right after we run into those things? A bit too good to be true, things like that don't happen. All we have to go on is Weiss's sister?"

"Not even that really. Professor Ozpin didn't seem very confident in things either." And how did Ruby figure that? I had long since accepted that she had a better gauge of what the headmaster was thinking than most, that is to say, a clue at all, but for once that didn't help in the least. "I'm all for helping people, but…" But killing people wasn't on Ruby's list of acceptable things. "Even if they aren't really human anymore they still…"

Yang sighed. "All we're doing right now is stewing, and not getting anywhere." She sat up, grabbing Blake by the arm.

"Hey Wait!" Blake tried to protest, but was dragged from the room, leaving Ruby and I alone, and the atmosphere getting tenser by the second.

Watching them go for a moment, Ruby sighed. "How'd we end up like this Weiss?" How did we end up talking about doing something that bordered on illegal, with government permission? How did we end up killing people? That reality hadn't sank into me yet, that we'd killed people. It was easy to brush off the White Fang. Just because I acknowledged that Father was wrong in his views about them didn't' change the fact that was the life I had lived. They were terrorists. Criminals. If they died, well, I wasn't going to shed tears over them. Maybe it was cruel. But those things…they had been people. They hadn't done anything wrong. "I don't want to sleep Weiss. To see them die…over and over."

For the first time in my life, I was filled with spark of feeling, sharp, overwhelming and intense. Liquid fire flared though my veins, shepherded onwards by a feeling I thought I had mastered. Equally white hot, in a different way. This surge of emotion brought forth another acknowledgement. I hated whoever had made those things. They had taken a piece of Ruby, in that little village. One of the defining elements of her.

Standing, I moved across the room with purpose, trying to find the words. Leaning over her shoulder, I let my chin rest there, my arms falling over her. "I don't know Ruby." One of her arms came up, trapping my hands against her chest, the contact burning, comforting, in peculiar way. It was good to see that even this couldn't dampen some parts of her.

"I became a Huntress, want to be a Huntress, to help people Weiss. I didn't become a Huntress to be a killer. Or a spy…or any of that." Her head lolled sideways, pressing against my arm, hot tears filtering through my sleeve. "I…what makes me different from Grimm Weiss? Me, or Blake or Yang, or you?" Her entire frame shook. "How am I not a monster?"

I didn't have anything to say. All I could do was do my best to not cry, the last thing this situation needed was that. Ruby's grip on my arm was crushing, somehow I couldn't find myself caring.

My time as a member of Team RWBY had been nothing short of life changing. Most such things were easy to put to words. The final element of that however, was a little different.

At first, Ruby had seemed like just any other teenager. Loudmouthed, impulsive, and everything I despised. Clumsy to boot. Seemingly clueless about so many things. Then, the choice between her and Jaune Arc, she had been a simple lesser of two evils. Ruby, at least, wasn't going to flirt with me. She might annoy me, but at least there was a small mercy. Perhaps I could at least teach her a bit about not annoying me eventually, since we were destined to be teammates at that point.

My opinions of her improved in those woods. Although I didn't like to admit it, she was obviously more experienced a fighter than I was. Faced with a horde of monsters, her default response was perfect confidence in her combat abilities, instead of falling back. At the time, I took it for impulsiveness. Now, months later, I knew differently, if a little. Yes, Ruby was impulsive. She acted before she thought most of the time… but in that moment, it hadn't been hotheadedness. She had simply known she would win that fight. A few dozen beowolves, even back then, wouldn't have mean anything to her. She'd fought worse growing up. Even if her plan was insane, Ruby pulled it off, in spectacular fashion.

Not that it made how I acted the next few days any better.

Over time though, I had started to notice things.

For example, Ruby almost never made fun of people, and hated bullies. With a passion. Cardin was the closest I'd see Ruby come to hatred, for a long time. She got closer with Torchwick, but at the time, it was the first time I'd see anything less than an innocent smiling Ruby Rose. Instead, there was a sharply focused Ruby, where every one of her actions was a carefully refined as my own. Where that side of Ruby went during the day, I had yet to determine, even if some of her silliness had become somewhat endearing over time.

Yet, one trait had shown through all of that. Where I, and I was starting to understand Blake, saw the world at best, in shades of greys, having seen our fair share of hardships and losses, and so on, Ruby had somehow held onto to innocence, in spite of the way that life seemed to have beaten her around quite a bit growing up. Losing her mom, and apparently being feared by her peers for her skill in combat, shouldn't have left her in any better a position than the rest of us, yet somehow Ruby was bright and cheerful and saw the good in almost everything.

"Weiss?" Her voice was muffled a bit, and shook me from my thoughts, and the slowly building desire to inflict lethal levels of harm on someone.

"Hm?" My heart was beating painfully fast. Her heart was betting faster, through my hands.

"Thanks…" I almost missed the word, mumbled into my sleeve as it was. "I'm just overwhelmed by all of this." She paused, sniffling a bit. "You probably have your own stuff to worry about."

I didn't move, didn't speak for a long while. "You're just as important as those things are Ruby." Heat sparked in my cheeks, not that she could feel that. More tears soaked into my sleeve, as Ruby's grip on my hand got stronger. "I'm not going anywhere."

Shaking. For a moment, I didn't understand, then, memories of the night before hit me. She was crying, this time, a bit more controlled perhaps, but crying. My most recent words replayed in my head, working through them, trying to understand just what had prompted this. The only thing I could consider was the phrase 'I'm not going anywhere,' which made sense, but also didn't.

"Sorry." I almost missed the word. There was another shudder from Ruby, this time as she took a deep breath. "Weiss?"

"Yes?" For some reason, I felt a flare of trepidation, as her head lifted off my arm, eyes turning to me, bright and gleaming with half shed tears.

"If…" She stumbled on the word. "If I tell you something, do you promise not to freak out?" Of course? Why would see even ask me that? "It's…it's about…" She sighed, eyes closing for a minute. "At Signal, how everyone treated me."

Oh. I'd managed to pull Blake aside, and gotten the little bit that Yang had said from our Faunus teammate earlier in the day, which had been less than enlightening. While I was more than willing to concede that seeing Ruby covered in blood was…unsettling, it wasn't as though that made her a monster.

Biting down my initial, snarking reply, "I promise." For some reason those two words seemed heavier than normal.

"When I first started at Signal, everyone thought I was a little weird, already knowing the basics of how to fight and stuff." Words came slowly, not in the wild rush I had expected. "But they eventually let it be, for the most part, especially once they started learning too." That made sense. People didn't like things that were outside the normal. "After a while, I ended up just sorta the class weapons nerd, everyone knew who I was, even if they maybe didn't like me very much."

That sounded like Ruby well enough. She could break down almost everything about a given weapon in seconds, for whatever reason. Then again, weapons had to do with fighting, and fighting ran in her blood. "What changed?"

Another shudder from her, heart racing faster. "It was a Wednesday." That was oddly specific, for Ruby. Dates were not a skill Ruby possessed. "Yang tried to cook breakfast," Which as I recall would end badly, "Which she just can't. I love her, but Yang cannot cook anything edible." Ruby giggled a bit. "I told her to go, and I'd clean the mess up, since Dad was supposed to be home before us that day…" Tears again. "It shouldn't have been a big deal. There weren't very many Grimm for a long time but…"

But that day, by some stroke of stupid luck, there were.

"Beowolves." Ruby gulped. "I don't remember how many, but lots." She paused, seeming lost for words.

"You killed them, with predictable results." Perhaps self-evident, in a sense. Ruby's style of combat, and even just the style of combat that a scythe would result in, was up close, personal, and violent. While I teased her about getting coated in blood, it was the end result of how Ruby fought. Nothing was there to suggest that she was had changed that fighting style.

"You mean getting covered in blood?" She muttered, before nodding. "Yeah…" There was another silence. "I didn't take it very well though… By the time I got to Signal I just sorta collapsed?"

 _She walked in the door, covered in blood, and just collapsed._ According to Blake, that was what Yang had said. As I knew from plenty of experience, adrenaline was exhausting, even more so when you were younger. So, collapsing as soon as the adrenaline rush of combat ran out, especially at only twelve made plenty of sense.

"By the time I woke up…everyone thought I'd murdered someone." What? How on earth… that made absolutely no sense. "Not that they'd admit it to me. Everyone just whispered behind my back." Breaking free of my arms for the first time, Ruby stood, swaying a bit. "Then the whispers kept going. Uncle Qrow knew, but I kept Dad from finding out." Strained, Ruby seemed to try and smile a bit. "I got used to ignoring them, after a while…" She seemed to have calmed down, and was almost smiling. "And it did help when bullies tried to pick on the friends I had."

Ruby, using something against people like that? What was this? Naïve, innocent Ruby, doing something underhanded? That idea alone was enough to have me reeling. Then again, she never seemed to bothered by Nora's incessant demand to break Cardin's legs…

"I almost killed someone yesterday Weiss." Somehow, of all the things she said, that was the one Ruby managed to deliver without her voice cracking. WHAT? "I didn't mean to, he tried to grab me, and…" And everything came crashing apart for Ruby at that point, tears streaming down her cheeks, and her knees giving out beneath her.

 _ **-Petals Scatter-**_

The rest of the day passed in a whirlwind. In an attempt to get Ruby's mind off recent events, and to clear my own head, I had suggested we follow Yang and Blake's example, if only to get some fresh air. That, I quickly realized, had been a bit of a mistake, as Ruby's version of relax seemed to amount to visiting every weapon store in Vale.

She did buy me a new dress, over my protests. After two minutes of arguing, I gave up, surrendering myself to the reality that I wasn't going to win that argument.

As the sun was finally setting, and I once again found my thoughts drawn to the future. To what we might find, going home. To whom might find us once we arrived there.

I did not relish the idea of dealing with Father, especially not bringing my teammates there. Blake in particular… that was just asking for trouble. Especially if her secret got out. While I had faith in Winter to keep us safe from anyone who was too crazy, Father was another matter altogether; I wasn't convinced Winter's military authority would do much good in that situation.

For a moment, the scar over my eye seemed to throb, a painful reminder of the man's opinions, and how he tried to get his way. Sending one of those armored creations as some sick kind of…test, or something. And he only let me come to Vale, I knew, because I had managed to back him into a corner, using his own little trap against him.

Speaking of family, what was Winter doing here? Did it have something to do with the Atlas Military showing up? That didn't make much sense to me though, if what I understood of Winter's life was true. She had been part of some kind of specialized portion of the Atlas military, with her teammates, at least until a mission went wrong, and they were killed. Since then, I didn't know what she had been doing.

"Hey Weiss?" Ruby stopped out of no-where, turning towards me. "What's your sister like?"

How… oh it was Ruby. Knowing her, it showed on my face, somehow. "I'm not sure what you mean?" There was a pause, Ruby's face screwing up, as if to say something unpleasant.

"She seems kinda like you, except she's more…um…" Ruby turned a strange color, between a blanch and a blush, as though she didn't' way to use a specific word, before plowing onwards. "Something just seemed kinda off about her I guess?

Hrm. It was oddly, true that Ruby was a good judge of character, in her own way, so it was possible she saw something there, although it seemed she was basing her understanding of Winter off of me, which probably wasn't very accurate.

"Winter is…" How could I even describe Winter? We hadn't seen each other much since she started at Atlas, and I had only met her teammates a few times. "She's in the military, although I'm not quite sure what it is she does." A slight tilt of Ruby's head to the side; she didn't understand how that worked. "We don't see each other all that often anymore." A pang of regret, as the realization that the last time I saw my sister for more than a day was a couple years ago, and she's spent most of that time locked in her room crying. "She's busy with work, and I've been at school, or training." A small nod, a more of a frown from Ruby.

"Sounds like she's someone pretty important?" It was a statement and a question all rolled together, as Ruby loved to do when she was solving a problem. "I mean, she was with General Ironwood, so…"

That was a good point. Now that I thought about it, I had never heard Winter say what her formal rank was. Yet, she was here, working with the highest ranking General in the military? "I confess, I'm not sure. She worked in some kind of specialized division at one point and then…" I trailed off. There was no easy way to explain that her teammates were killed on a mission. Although she never said, I had been confident at the time that Winter liked one of them, and looking back I was only more convinced of that assessment.

"Something bad happened?" Ruby gave my hand a slight squeeze, which I knew was her way of telling me that I didn't have to keep talking.

"There was a mission. And during it, something went wrong, and her teammates died." Beside me, Ruby's breath caught for a moment. "She showed up in the middle of the night, covered in blood, bleeding, and I think she had a broken arm, crying, and rambling about whatever happened." That had, in a sense, been a rude awakening to the world, and proven to me that I didn't want to attend Atlas.

It was also one of the rare times when Father had truly gotten upset with one of us. I didn't know what was said between them, but when he had left Winter's room, Father had been white as a sheet, and instructed me to leave my sister to her 'foolish grief'.

Ruby didn't say anything, just gripping my hand, guiding us…somewhere. Dragging myself back into focus, I sighed. "For a while, she helped me practice swordplay, then her job got too busy." And I'd been avoiding her, although not as badly. "I kind of expected she come find me today." For some reason, the fact she hadn't hurt.

We were sitting on the airship back to Beacon, my hand still in Ruby's as I stopped talking.

To my surprise, night had fallen completely, the moon visible, just barely, over Ruby's shoulder in the window. The topic of my sister hung between us for a while, Ruby unusually quiet, even some of her normal vibrancy missing from her eyes.

Her right hand was clenched, not very tightly, but her shoulders were relaxed, and she wasn't biting her lip or frowning, so she wasn't exactly nervous, but at the same time, she was? Her hand was clammy, which would suggest whatever was on her mind wasn't something to be nervous over, yet I kept coming back to that same feeling.

"Something's bugging you." For a moment, I had the irrational thought that Ruby had fallen asleep on her feet, before she twitched, shaking her head.

"Nope." Not quite serious Ruby, but… it wasn't exactly regular Ruby either. Only she could give me a headache, and manage to be endearing about it. "Just thinking." Oh. That did not bode well at all.

"You aren't coming up with some kind of plan are you?" Or at least, not an insane plan that would make me question my life choices?

"Nope." It was a small smile, one of the ones that my heart jump when they happened.

"That's good." While I couldn't deny her effective nature of her plans, most of them were a little too… life threatening for my taste. I would leave the adrenaline seeking for Yang. I was dragged from that thought, as a weight settled on my shoulder. I glanced down, surprised to find my vision filled by black and red hair.

For some reason, I found myself wanting to blush at the close contact. It was not as if this was the first time that Ruby had done this, or even that I minded. I didn't mind, in fact, even if I teased her about it. Sometime though, it did make it hard to try and ignore feelings. Or at least, try too. Like now.

"You're using me as a pillow again?" After a while, I had to ask, because I was more than certain human spines were not meant to bend that way. "We're almost back to Beacon."

"Maybe." She mumbled into my shoulder. "…Okay." She didn't move, and I couldn't say I minded that fact. Indeed, it wasn't until the doors of the airship has hissed open that Ruby lifted her head from my shoulder, wearing an expression that was close to content as I'd ever seen from her. I followed her across the school ground, until we ended up beneath the tree that, when we had days off, or time to relax, Blake liked to use for relaxing under, and Ruby would occasionally read beneath, if she wasn't off, further refining her already considerable talent with the scythe.

Letting go of my hand for the first time in quite a while, Ruby flopped down onto the grass. I sat, albeit it in a far more dignified manner next to her. Under normal circumstances, I would have protested being dragged about, but Ruby seemed happier than she had been in days, and although I wasn't about to admit it to anyone, I had enjoyed myself. Besides. Spending time with Ruby was enjoyable.

"Weiss?" There was a small hesitation to her voice, a choking on the words, as if she wasn't certain what to say. Or how to say it.

"Yes?" She bit her lip, turning away from me a bit.

"I…I wanted to talk to you about something?" That was, I noticed, not quite a statement, and didn't leave me much room to figure things out, unfortunately. It did however, suggest that whatever had been bothering her was what she wanted to talk about. Although I wanted very badly to ask, years of habits, as well as knowing Ruby, told me to stay silent. She would get there. "Um… well…" She swallowed. Then swallowed again. "I…"

Watching her splutter and stumble over her words was, in a sense, endearing. Perhaps a bit mean of me, but words had never been a thing Ruby was good at. She thrived on action, as opposed to talking, despite doing a lot of the later. "One word at a time Ruby." I offered, smiling just a bit. It was surprisingly hard to figure out the line between teasing and being nasty, but I hoped that she would figure it out.

"Yeah yeah." Pushing herself upright, Ruby gave a long sigh. "This isn't supposed to be hard." The last part was mumbled, and I only really knew what she said by virtue of reading her lips.

Reaching out, I placed my hand over hers, shelving my confusion, and curiosity at whatever was bothering my partner for a moment. "There isn't a need to rush." Or at least, I didn't think there was. Knowing Ruby, it was hard to say for absolute certain though.

She was almost pouting, but not quite. "I know…" Trialing off again, one of her hands ran through her hair. "It just shouldn't be this hard to say it…." Another long pause, leaving me plenty of time to ponder just what it was that had left my talkative teammate so stumped. Normally, I couldn't have taped Ruby's mouth shut if I wanted the words to stop coming out of it.

Giving her head a sharp shake, she turned towards me, eyes shimmering with…something. "What's it that Yang says sometimes?" Before I could answer, she gave another decisive nod. "Fuck it."

I had a single moment to process the fact that Ruby actually swore, because she was kissing me.

Only a few details of the moment sank in: her lips were just a little rough, about like the rest of her really; the warmth almost pulsating off of her; Ruby was kissing me, we tumbled backwards, into the grass, breaking the contact.

Thoughts whirling, I struggled to put together a coherent sentence. "Ruby? What-Why-Wh-"

"Weiss!" She cut me off, eyes widening by the second. "One at a time please?" Not quite a pleading note to her voice.

Right. "Why?" That seemed like a logical first question.

There was a pause, her regarding me with guarded expression, what might have been tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Oh Dust. "You usually kiss people you like don't you?" There was a silence, then quieter. "More than like though." She attempted one of her usual confident grins, but it wasn't quite the same.

Oh. Of all the answers I had expected that was… not one of them. Not at all.

More than like? A phantom sensation flared down my chest, a whirlwind of worries flaring up without warning.

I had deal with plenty of less than…savory people vying for my affections at various points, most of them children of Father's various business partners. Even we discounted the sincere ones, (such as Jaune, although I had little interest in him), the number of people who had showed interesting in me for selfish reasons, or just because they wanted to get in Fathers' good books was exhaustive. As a result, my first instinct in any such situation was to run. Or at the very least, extricate myself with all due haste.

But this was Ruby. She wasn't just some…creep. Granted, none of said persons had ever kissed me either, but that was beside the point! It wasn't as if I even minded terribly much that she had…

For a treacherous moment, I could just imagine Father's face, at the idea of me being involved with a girl. Or anyone from Beacon for that matter. How angry he'd be, how he'd react. My heart started to pick up, and I took a deep breath, forcing that near instinctive panic aside. I was here, Father was not. And it wasn't as though we would be running into him in Atlas, if Winter had her way about it.

"Weiss?" She tried hard to mask the slight wavering in her tone, but it bled through, the small hints of fear, panic; tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes, half hidden by the shadows of her hair, yet thrown into sharp relief by the fact her eyes almost shone. "I-"

It wasn't hard to guess the forming words, even without knowing Ruby, without being in this situation. "Ruby Rose."

There was a pause, one I had learned meant that Ruby was composing herself, not that she didn't have anything to say. A muscle in her neck twitched, she blinked just a hair too long. When he eyes opened, they were a bit more guarded, although a small spark of hope was there, hiding in the corner of tears. "Yes?"

A million thoughts hit me all at once. My arms came up, wrapping around her neck. It was strange, thinking about life back at home, having met Ruby, and to a less extent the other two. The idea of going to back a bland, sterile world, as opposed to the whirlwind vibrant one that Ruby represented was almost unthinkable.

It didn't take much effort to pull myself closer to her. She would never be the greatest student, we both knew that, but at the same time, in little, other ways, Ruby had a breadth of knowledge that was hard to eclipse. It just happened that her skillset was entirely useless for schooling. It was hard to explain the fact that she just had a plan for…everything, for example. Or that fact that she would without fail, put herself forward to help literally anyone.

And then all those thoughts when out the window.

I was kissing Ruby. The skin of her neck was burning against my arms, as we shifted, lips parting just a bit. I found myself just as unaware of exactly what was happening as before, this kiss being longer, and infinitely more intense.

As we separated, Ruby swayed, just a bit, taking several deliberate breaths. "Oh…" Her arms, which had been holding her upright over me, gave out, leaving my teammate to collapse into my chest. "Oh." She wore a lopsided, somewhat dazed grin,

In a way, the slight weight of Ruby served to calm my own racing heart, and throw everything into focus. Ruby had kissed me. And then I kissed her. Something I had privately wondered about for some time, and it had just happened. Twice. And now, she was collapsed on my chest grinning like a dope.

"Ruby?" It was an effort, but I managed to keep my voice level, managing only a whisper, hoping the unspoken question made it through; the strange little way that Ruby could sometimes figure out just what was going on in my head, seemingly from nothing. For a moment, I thought she hadn't heard, before she shifted, a single silver eye fixing on me. No tears lurked in the corner this time, however, a whirlwind mix of excited, shock, and happiness, that if I had the time, I could probably have figured out. Or maybe I already head. She sat up, just a bit, arms remaining shaky, biting her lip just a tad, as though considering.

It was a simple set of actions, somewhat every day for her, yet I felt a shiver run through me regardless. Then she kissed me again. Shorter this time, and I was a bit more aware, not quite so overcome by shock, and a rush of feelings. "I've wanted to do that for a while." It was whispered, in-between a fourth kiss, a rush of warmth filling me, and I pulled her closer, for a moment not wanting those precious seconds to stop.

 _ **-Petals Scatter-**_

 **Winter**

"I'll have whatever he has." Dropping onto the barstool, I resisted the urge to groan. Of course he was in a bar, even at this hour. I had yet to decide if the man attracted bars like flies, or if bars attracted him like a fly.

"Well well well." Qrow leaned against his hand, offering me an appraising gaze. As always, he hadn't changed a bit since we last saw each other. He still need to shave, was still quite drunk, and probably needed a shower. "Either hell's frozen over, or the dead are walking…" He paused, seeming to weight the options. "Guess I should start hedging my bets?"

"Shut up." It was halfhearted, as I accepted the drink from the bartender, and drained the entire thing. I wasn't sure what had even compelled me to come here, to talk to him of all people. The conversation was bound to only annoy me, besides giving me a headache.

Despite no doubt having something snide to say, Qrow remained silent, nursing his drink, occasionally swirling the ice, and snorting, at who knew what. Either that, or he was ogling someone, and approve of what her saw. Accepting a second drink, I stared into the amber liquid, trying to make sense of my swirling feelings, the very same one's that brought me to this place.

"Do you think it's possible he survived?" Qrow would know exactly who I was talking about, leaving no reason to preface the statement. The man grunted, head tilting, surveying me with one of his rare, piercing stares. Despite appearances to the contrary, I knew Qrow was intelligent, and had many of the same skills I did, for many of the same reasons; drinking was his coping mechanism as much as it was his vice after all. Although he didn't seem especially drunk at the moment. Bastard probably knew I was coming.

"With that one? Who knows." Damnit Qrow. That was not the answer I was hoping for. "From what you've told me, he lived through plenty of garbage, before so Dust only knows what could or couldn't kill him." He gave a rasping chuckle. "'course, not telling you he's alive?" He paused before taking a drink. "Dick move."

"It was strange." Another drink, and I found myself talking, without really knowing why. Perhaps it was a story I just needed to get off my chest. Knowledge I'd kept bottled up, in those years since that evening. Six hours that skirted the edge of nightmares ever sense, finally coaxed out by inebriation. "Looking back, he knew." It was the only conclusion I could reach, when I woke up, screaming into a pillow, the ghostly image of a man falling over head slow to fade.

"He was well named, so would make sense." Qrow pointed out, as he always did. It was what originally drew me to him, the way that, despite being a hooligan and a drunk, Qrow could manage to listen, and listen well. His advice was terrible, but at least the man could listen.

I couldn't prevent my snort at the thought. Oracle. "It started a joke in school, really. That he was a sort of Oracle for our team. And eventually, the nickname spread, first to others in school, and see even teachers we knew well would call him that. It wasn't even a question, when we enlisted with Intelligence, what his codename would be." I drained another drink with a sigh. "And, without fail, he led us through everything, no matter how horrible, not matter how deadly, he was there, calm, and in control, to take charge of the situation, guiding everyone out alive."

We had relied on him, trusted him. The other three of us, despite the rocky start we'd had, and he, in turn, repaid the trust. Time and time again. We'd never thanked him, although knowing Oracle, he wouldn't have accepted the thanks anyway. That was the sort of person he was, never taking thanks from others if he could help it.

"And then, without warning, he died." Qrow nodded a bit, taking up the narrative as he did, giving a long sigh, to accompany another drink gone. "Losing friends is never easy…" he paused. "So what has you asking about that?"

I sighed, staring into my drink again. "Have you met Ian's Blackwood?"

Qrow hacked out a cough. "Once. Seemed alright enough, bit of a bastard I guess." His eyes narrowed, as though processing the original intent of my question. "Don't know much about him though. Just sorta appeared few years back, never explained much, but he's damn good at his job."

That was helpful, in a roundabout way. Qrow was no Atlesean specialist, but in terms of gathering information, I knew his skills were comparable. Further, he had the same hard bitten set of instincts that any of filed operative developed, meaning that, even if he didn't' consciously think about it, he would gather information on a new face. Although it took me a while to realize it, the fact that Qrow didn't know much about Ian Blackwood mean that whoever he was, he had something to hide.

Of course, having something to hide didn't change the fact I was probably seeing things. Everyone had a secret or two, so that fact that some random Vale huntman had more than normal was not out of reason.

"You're not going to be asking me without a reason…" Qrow trailed off, and I had to hide a wince. Apparently drinking degraded my ability to be subtle.

Damn him for making it obvious though. "It's a bit more than a resemblance. They look almost identical. Which makes no sense. I saw the man die Qrow." He didn't answer, not that I expected him too. This was all things he'd heard me say before. "I spoke as his funeral. And now…" The words trailed off. He had no family, and whatever happened had been bad enough that it was a closed casket ceremony.

"Seems like you already know what the answer is."

"Go fuck yourself Qrow." Swearing at Qrow was not the sort of thing I would usually do, but he was right. All of this was his style. 'The hardest places to see is exactly where your focus is.' It was an old mantra, one Oracle had loved to recite, just before pulling a trump card on someone. And, what better place to hide? "I just don't understand why?

That elicited a long shrug, as he drained another glass. "Hard to say. Never met the guy. Pity really. He sounded almost alright." Qrow's lips quirked, no doubt imagining something humorous. "He must've done something right, gettin' through to you." I wouldn't have called it…right, exactly, especially considering how our relationship had begun. "I've never known a dead man to get back up out of his grave though. Be one hell of a trick."

"Assuming the bastard was ever dead." That thought lingered between us for a while. It was the first time, in truth, that such a topic had come up in some time. I had thought I had moved on from that, put those times behind me. Until a single meeting managed to upend all of that, and now, here I was, sitting in a seedy bar with Qrow Branwen, drinking. I think I mumbled a few cursed under my breath.

"Fuckin' hell." I had stopped paying attention to how much I had drank by this point, only vaguely aware it was quite a bit, which probably was the source of Qrow swearing. "Might wanna cut her off, if she cares 'bout walking home." I managed a half-hearted glare, no doubt losing some of the effect from being intoxicated.

We sat in silence for a long time after that, him nursing another… something, and I lost in my thoughts, the swirling, alcohol fueled mess of what ifs, and frustrations. What if I had paid better attention? What if I hadn't changed fields? What if this, and what if that? Or, as Qrow said, trying to play lottery in hindsight.

"My sister is coming back to Atlas for a while." It was the drinks, making my lips work before my brain engaged again once again. "Her and her team. They managed to stumble across proof of Oracle's little obsession, and Ironwood wants to deal with it…" The word escaped me for a moment. "Unofficially." Not the one I wanted, but it would do.

"Has the man lost his damn mind?" It was a genuine growl that escaped the man.

"Quite possible." I had asked myself that question several times today, since that meeting. "He wants the four of them to investigate. And myself, and Blackwood to oversee it." The worst part of that entire sentence, funnily enough, was not that Ironwood wanted me to do it. No, the worst part was that it made sense. As a former member of Intelligence, it made sense to put me in charge of mission involving under cover, and not quite…official work. Right. The thought was groggy, forming over several seconds. I was important, so people wouldn't ask to many questions, and Ironwood knew I had…conn…connections, in my old department.

"Dust." Qrow shook his head, glass waving about as he spoke. He was more upset than I expected about that. "I thought my job sucked." Given that Qrow famously declared that, were he an Atlas soldier, he'd shoot himself, such sentiment wasn't exactly uncommon from him, but none the less. "That's gonna be a disaster. Bunch of kids going that kind of work?" He shook his head. "Recipe for problems, let me tell you."

"Ozpin agreed, however reluctantly I do not know. And they agreed as well." To my surprise, Qrow snorted into his drink, scowling deeper.

"Of course they agreed. That's the sort of thing that Ruby and Yang can't turn down." He knew those two? I wasn't aware of that. "Damnit." Setting the glass down, he spun on his stool, appearing to become somewhat more serious. "I'm off to give Oz a yelling at." He stood, swaying a bit, before straightening. "Have fun explaining being shitfaced drunk to Ironwood."

And with that, he sauntered off…leaving me to pay.

As I said earlier. Fuck you, Qrow Branwen. Preferably with your scythe.

 **-Petal Scatter-**

 **Ozpin**

Sunset. A time of rest, and calm, within the otherwise chaotic day. Long shadows swirled about the floor of my office, as the dancing light through the gears above fell lower and lower.

In a sense, I couldn't help but feel it was fitting. Something, although I had little idea what, was coming to an end. Peace perhaps, I thought with a sigh. Worry and malcontent was breeding in the streets, although few had truly come to realize it just yet. The Atleasan fleet hovering over-head set the more astute on edge, even as James claimed he was only here to protect, at the behest of the Council. It was a heavy weight, the memories of the Great War, especially amongst those whose families had suffered in the conflict.

More troubling still, was the resurgence of those Half-Grimm creations. Although Ian Blackwood refused to accept it, they had been on the decline in recent years, time at last killing off the final remaining ones; a mercy really. Yet, an entire village was now found destroyed, then attacked by those very creations, in numbers that were unprecedented.

More and more, Salem's touch was spreading, it seemed, and there was little doubt that was responsible for that. No one else on the planet would have the influence, power, or knowledge with which to bring those monsters to being once more, or in such numbers. That meant her move was coming.

Glancing down at my desk, I sighed. If only there had been another way. A different path I could let them walk. Yet, they had chosen, and I had no argument with which to stop them. All that could be done was watch, wait, and attempt to blunt the horrors they would see. Ian Blackwood could see to that. For all the rage that young man contained, he truly hated to drag those uninvolved into conflict, and it showed.

Of course, he seemed to have a past with Atlas, which I had not realized until today. Then again, when Ian had appeared, we had been so shorthanded that no one bothered to ask him the first question, he was simply swept in, and within the year had become something of a fixture without any real explanation. He worked almost entirely alone, but was highly effective, so no one would question him about it. The few times before today we had spoken he had always seemed like a reasonable man, knowledgeable, and confident, but nothing extraordinary.

And now, I was sending four students into a country that, at the very least would be hostile to one of them, and alien to another two, under his care. Fear and worry settled in my gut, heavy as always. And, as always, I swept those feelings aside. There was no time for regrets or second guesses. We had reached a crossroads, and the only option remaining was to step forwards, commit to path, and hope.

* * *

 **A/N: So. This is supertastically late, as a result of Word eating my rewritten draft no less than three times, which is a major motivation killer. Not happy with it, but I'm also at the end of my rope, and ready to move on, so here we are.**

 **Drunk Winter is fun as hell (also a total lightweight). Although I'm also pretty sure I should be drunk when I wrote her parts, for authenticity or something, but not gonna do that. Not worth that much effort. I think too damn much about this shit already. No really.**

 **And the first act of the story begins! And lots of groundwork to lay here, some of which isn't gonna pay off for quite a while. But that's…mostly okay. And this chapter probably needed some Cinder, but oh well, we got Ozpin instead. If I start down that road, I'm going to write you guys a book per update, and well, my chapters are already pushing my person length limits. I'd actually consider going to each POV gets its own chapter, which probably would be faster, and let me build up my backlog better, but I almost prefer this method in a way. It let's me give me stuff per update, and we don't have two or three weeks at a time of just me doing character stuff that relates to the plot, and isn't really filler, but at the same time, isn't a badass action sequence, or other stuff later. And for those wondering, action should make a return next week, in some form. Gotta bust some heads eventually.**

 **I don't think I have any rants. This week really. Some observations on OCs that I'll keep to myself, and I officially have a plan for something that, if I manage to write half as well as it looks in my head is going to be downright fucking awesome. But that's a ways off. (for the curious, I have the bones of the plot figured out up through the end of what would be Volume three of the show. Depending on how cooperative everyone is, those bones might or might not get redone a few times in the middle. Who knows. These characters are someone less helpful that the ones for Darkness, which has, for the most part, followed the plot thru-line I set for it, with about two deviations, and those fit well enough. This? Not so much. I mean, I've redone one particular plot point no less than 4 times. In this chapter. It's getting obscene.**

 **While I'm on the topic of characters. Winter. She's a hard one. We know not quite piss all about her. She's loyal to Ironwood, she has some kind of history with Qrow it seems, and is both frosty, and a hothead. Doesn't get on well with dear old dad (one for the human garbage heap he is), and is in the Atlas military as a 'specialist', what the fuck that means. Aside from that, free reign basically exists for her character, aside from stuff like fighting style and semblance, yadda yadda.**

 **What does that mean for me? Well, I can do kinda whatever, as long as the end result is what I just described. And let me tell you, that is a lot of options. Unfortunately, something in my head is a few screws loose, and the results of that are, predictably not sunshine and rainbows. I guess at least she didn't have a parent die (that might be preferable…). Either way, Winter gets to be an important character, so that's a thing. And is also a totally lightweight. (Ironwood doesn't know…probably.)**

 **Reviews, thoughts, suggestions, are always appreciated. This chapter was a terrible pain to get done, and this isn't even a version I'm terribly happy with. Unfortunately, I didn't' have the patience to rewrite it a fourth time, so…here we are. This damn chapter is cursed, and so I'm just done. It's here, and sometime later, I'll fix it, when I'm farther in I guess.**


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